


Alternia Vampire Academy

by readwritebeawesome



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Caliborn's mentioned (but his name isn't said), If I've forgotten to tag one or two relationships then sorry, Implied past child-abuse, Vampirestuck AU, self-starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 04:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 35
Words: 42,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5234480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readwritebeawesome/pseuds/readwritebeawesome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When John and his friends moved to a new town, they didn't expect much. They definitely expected to stay human though. And they definitely didn't expect what would come after their sudden transformation. As if being a teenager wasn't hard enough, now they have to adapt to their new lives as vampires, including the dangers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Karkles, did you hear?” Terezi said. “Four families will be moving into town tomorrow.”

“So?” Karkat looked up from cleaning his scythe at Terezi.

“We aren’t necessarily going to be the ones to deal with them Terezi,” Vriska said.

“Yeah, but almost everyone else has gotten to! I bet this’ll be our chance to get noticed!”

“You don’t get noticed for getting a couple more of us. You get the newbies noticed.”

“Whatever. At least we’ll have some new friends!”

“Why would they want our group to?” Karkat asked. “We’re nothing special.”

“We’re plenty special! We’ve got the Headmistress’s youngest daughter in our group!” Terezi pointed at Kanaya.

“Terezi, you know my mother favours Porrim over me,” Kanaya said. Terezi sighed.

“Look, try to be a little optimistic about this, please?”

“I hope we can go get them!” Nepeta said. “I want more furiends.”

“What’s wrong with us?” Terezi asked.

“Nothing! That’s not what I meant, I-”

“Calm down Nepeta,” Equius said. “We know you didn’t mean that.” He patted her head and she smiled.

“But it would be nice to have new fronds,” Feferi said.

“Fine, sure it would,” Karkat said. “But don’t start getting your hopes up guys.”

“C’mon Karkles! You’re our leader here! Give us some confidence or something!” Terezi scolded. Karkat sighed and rolled his eyes.

“If you all get your hopes up then when we don’t get picked most of you will mope for days and complain a bunch. Just like every other fucking time.”

“Joy-kill.” Terezi stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey, I got a stabby message for all of you,” Jack said, walking in. Karkat grinned and sat up. He was good friends with Jack, he liked him.

“What is it?” he asked. Jack tossed him an envelope.

“I dunno what it is. I’m just delivering it. And stabbing the competition.” He jerked his thumb behind him, where Karkat could hear someone yelling at him.

“You might want to make sure you don’t get fired,” Karkat said. “Because I dunno how many people they’ll take getting stabbed before they kick your ass out of here.” Jack just shrugged and walked out. Karkat heard someone yell and he sighed and looked at the envelope. “Hey, it’s from Dolorosa.”

“Mother?” Kanaya exclaimed, walking over. The others crowded around Karkat as he opened the envelope and read it aloud.

“Team #69, you have been appointed the responsibility of the four families moving into town: Egbert/Crocker, Lalonde, Strider and Harley/English. You will target them tomorrow night at midnight. Remember to bring them to the kittens’ wing. Don’t mess up.”

“Yes!” Terezi cheered. “I told you! I told you!”

“Finally!” Sollux said. Even Karkat grinned as he put the envelope away.

“We’d better get ready guys. I’ll split everyone into groups, okay?”

“Yeah! Sounds good!” Terezi said.

“Wait, we got a motherfucking problem here,” Gamzee said. “What about Tavbro? He’s in no shape to be going outside.” Gamzee patted Tavros’s head. Tavros was lying down in a bed.

“Yeah, we still have to wait for them to get that wheelchair for him,” Terezi said.

“Can’t you just fly?” Karkat asked. Tavros shook his head and mumbled under his breath.

“He’s too afraid to,” Gamzee said. Karkat sighed and nodded.

“Okay, that’s fine. That leaves eleven of us. We’ll have three groups of three and one group of two.”

“Sorry,” Tavros mumbled. 

“It’s fine,” Karkat said. Gamzee nodded and whispered to Tavros. Karkat ignored them and thought about teams. _I’ll have Vriska in the team of two. She’s powerful enough that they won’t run into any problems._ “Okay, here are the teams.” Karkat grabbed a pen and paper and wrote the teams down.

Vriska, Aradia: Egbert/Crocker.

Gamzee, Terezi, Feferi: Strider

Kanaya, Sollux, Eridan: Lalonde

Karkat, Nepeta, Equius: Harley/English

“There’s profiles of the families in the envelope,” Aradia said, pulling four papers out of the envelope. She handed them out to the others and Karkat looked at the profiles for Jade Harley and Jake English.

**Jade Harley/Jake English**

Cousins. Moving to Alternia after the death of their Grandfather.

Jade Harley: 

Gender: Female.

Age: 16

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

Jake English:

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

_Not surprising they don’t know much about powers. They’d only know if they came from a family with a history of powers, like the Serkets, Megidos, Captors, Nitrams, Peixes and Amporas._ Karkat looked at the other profiles as well so he knew what the others would be dealing with.

**John Egbert/Jane Crocker**

Cousins. Moving to Alternia after the death of John’s Father.

John Egbert:

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

Jane Crocker:

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

**Dave Strider/Dirk Strider**

Brothers. Moving to Alternia to live close to friends: John Egbert & Jake English

Dave Strider:

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

Dirk Strider:

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

**Rose Lalonde/Roxy Lalonde**

Sisters. Moving to Alternia after the death of their Mother.

Rose Lalonde:

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

Roxy Lalonde:

Gender: Female

Age: 19

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

“This should be a piece of cake!” Vriska said, grinning.

“Yeah, thith shouldn’t be too hard,” Sollux said. Karkat shrugged and put the profiles down.

“Don’t get cocky guys.”

“Come on Karkles, they’ll be normal until we turn them. We have nothing to worry about!” Terezi said. Karkat sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I know. But get prepared now just in case.” Terezi nodded and picked up her cane. The others grabbed their weapons and began making sure they were in good condition. Usually the weapons weren’t necessary, but it was a good idea to be prepared. Karkat grabbed his scythe and continued cleaning it. The others were chattering loudly. Karkat smiled to himself as he worked.

“You’re definitely excited,” Terezi said. “Don’t try to deny it Karkles.” Karkat rolled his eyes.

“Not as excited as you. Or Nepeta. You look like you’re about to bounce off the walls.” Nepeta grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course! We finally get to get some new ones! Mew must be so excited Karkitty! I am!”

“Calm down Nepeta. You have to wait until tomorrow night.” Nepeta pouted and Karkat grinned. “Yeah, okay. I’m excited too. Just calm down all of you. We don’t want to screw up.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry for not updating for like, two weeks. I really meant to, but the internet stopped working. Sorry. :P But I'm back! Yay!

The next night they were all ready to move out. They all wore black robes with their symbols on it. Karkat led them as they walked through the Academy gates and outside. The town was in front of them; a multitude of houses next to each other and a bunch of stores. Karkat jumped quietly onto a rooftop and the others followed him.

“Everyone remember their directions?” Karkat whispered. The others nodded and stood in their groups. “Let’s get this over with as quickly as possible. We’ll meet up in the kittens’ wing when we’ve all finished. Clear?”

“Clear,” everyone responded. Karkat nodded and they all set off, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. There was a full moon that night and it shone brightly. Of course, Karkat would have been able to see fine without it. They all would have. But he actually liked the moonlight better than the dark. Though he’d never admit it.

Soon they were a few houses away from their destination. Karkat stopped and looked through a window. Nepeta and Equius stopped next to him.

“You two take Jake English, I’ll deal with Jade Harley,” Karkat whispered. Nepeta and Equius nodded and leapt across to another rooftop. Karkat leapt to a different one until he was outside a window. He turned to Nepeta and Equius and mouthed _Don’t mess this up!_ They nodded and Equius gave him a thumbs-up. Karkat nodded and they moved in.

20 MINUTES EARLIER:

“Jade, you should go to bed,” Jake said. Jade sighed and turned away from the TV.

“I’m not tired,” she said. Jake sighed and shook his head.

“Yes you are. I can tell. Now come on, get to bed.” Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her off the couch. Jade sighed and walked upstairs to her room. She changed into her pyjamas and lay down. Bec came and licked her face, making her smile.

“Goodnight,” she said. Bec walked to the doorway where Jake was standing.

“Goodnight. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” He turned to leave.

“Um, Jake?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve had a nervous feeling ever since we came here.” Jake chuckled and shook his head.

“You just have to get used to this place.” Jade sighed and nodded, though she wasn’t convinced. “Tell you what, I’ll have Bec stay here with you, okay?” Jade grinned and nodded. Jake pushed Bec to her and he lay down under her bed. Jade smiled and scratched his head.

“Thanks. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Jake turned out the light and shut the door. Jade sighed and rolled over. _Something’s not right._

BACK TO PRESENT:

Karkat climbed up to the window and peered through. Jade was lying in bed, clearly asleep. Karkat fiddled with the window until he got it open. He quietly stepped inside and moved forward. He froze when he heard a low growling. He looked down and saw a big white dog slowly advancing towards him.  _I can deal with that well enough._ Karkat took out a small knife and made a cut in his hand. He held it in front of the dog’s nose. The dog stared at his hand and he moved it in a circle. The dog’s eyes never left his hand and eventually the dog fell unconscious. Karkat grinned and licked the cut away. That was a special trick all of them could do. Tavros had discovered it a few years ago, and they kept it a secret in their team. Though some other teams probably already knew about that.

_No time for that. I have work to do._ Karkat stepped past the dog and moved to Jade. He made sure not to step on any creaky floorboards as he did. When he was next to the bed he reached out and gently grabbed Jade’s arm.

Jade immediately sat up and pointed a gun at him.

“Who are you?!” she hissed. “What do you want?!” _Oh fuck, she was awake. And she has a gun. Not like it’ll kill me, but it would hurt like hell to be shot._ “I said who are-”

Karkat jumped forward and knocked the gun out of Jade’s hand. He grabbed her arms and spun her around so she was facing away from him. She kicked at him but he hardly noticed. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her still. He brushed her hair out of the way and took a deep breath. Then he bit her neck. And Jade screamed.

“Jade?!” Karkat heard hurried footsteps and Jake burst into the room. _Dammit, I can’t be interrupted now! What the hell are Nepeta and Equius doing?!_ Jake stared at Karkat in surprise, then pulled out two pistols. _Great. More guns._

“No mew don’t!” Nepeta yelled. She jumped on his back and covered his eyes. “Don’t shoot or you might accidentally shoot Jade!” Equius came up and wrestled the guns out of Jake’s hands. Meanwhile Nepeta bit Jake and covered his mouth as he screamed.

Jade had passed out already and Karkat closed his eyes and focused on what he was doing. He kept counting how many seconds he’d been biting her.  _Six…seven….eight…nine…ten!_ Karkat let go and Jade completely collapsed. He picked her up and waited for Nepeta to finish with Jake. Equius picked him up and nodded to Karkat.

“What about her dog?” Nepeta asked. “We’ve got some teams with a beast-tamer in them, like Tavros in ours. Do mew think she’s one?”

“I do not think so,” Equius said. “A beast-tamer’s animal would not be overtaken by the smell of Vampire blood.”

“Oh yeah…still, don’t you think she’ll want him?”

“Then bring him with us if you have to. Let’s go!” Karkat hissed. Nepeta picked up the dog and carried him over her shoulder. Karkat leapt out the window and onto a nearby rooftop. He moved out of the way as Nepeta, then Equius, followed. Karkat nodded to them and they leapt across rooftops, making their way back to the Academy.

“At least they won’t remember what happened,” Nepeta said.

“Yeah, then they won’t hate us,” Karkat said. They were silent for the rest of the way there. _I hope the others did well._


	3. Chapter 3

Vriska landed on a rooftop next to the house Egbert and Crocker lived in and grinned. _This is going to be so easy! I might as well lay off the mind-controlling, otherwise it won’t be as fun._ Aradia landed next to her and looked at her.

“Remember, we don’t want to screw up. Dolorosa won’t be too happy if we fail, and I doubt that would help Kanaya.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.” Vriska looked at the house and grinned. “I’ll take John, you take Jane Crocker. Okay?”

“Okay. Good luck.”

“You too.”

30 MINUTES EARLIER:

“Come on John, it’s time for bed,” Jane said. John sighed and stood up from his piano.

“Okay, sure.” He went to the bathroom and started brushing his teeth. Jane joined him and fussed with his hair at the same time.

“I don’t see why you gel your hair to stick up like that,” she said. John shrugged and smiled.

“I like id like had,” he said through a mouthful of toothpaste and toothbrush. He spat into the sink and rinsed his mouth off. Jane rolled her eyes and did the same.

“Good night. Let me know if you can’t sleep, okay?” John rolled his eyes.

“Jane, I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I know that John. But I’m worried about you.” John shook his head.

“I’m fine. I’m pretty sure the nightmares have stopped.” Jane smiled and hugged him.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” John walked upstairs and lay down in bed. He sighed and stared at the picture on his bedside table. It was a picture of him, Jane and dad all smiling and being a happy family. John shook his head and pulled his pillow over his head. _I have to calm down! Just go to sleep!_ But John couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up with the town they’d moved to.

BACK TO PRESENT:

Vriska climbed to the window and grinned. She could see sleeping John inside. She opened the window and climbed inside the room. John was asleep and breathing peacefully. Vriska smirked and crept forward.  _This is just too easy. Maybe I should wake him up first. After all, he won’t remember any of it._ Vriska reached out and shook John’s shoulder. He jumped and sat up.

“Who-who is it?! Jane?” he whispered loudly. Vriska chuckled and shook her head.

“Hi John. I’m Vriska,” she whispered.

“Uh, um…hi. What-what are you doing here?” Vriska grinned and grabbed John’s arms.

“Just close your eyes,” she instructed. John struggled in her grip and she turned him around. “Stop struggling John, you don’t want me to mess this up.” Vriska wrapped her arms around him and held him still. She covered his mouth with her hand and opened her mouth. Then she bit him and John jumped and screamed.

_One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten_ ! Vriska let him go and he collapsed in her arms. Vriska grinned and slung him over her shoulder.  _Now I just wait for Aradia._

ARADIA’S POV:

Aradia held her hand over the window and it opened. She climbed inside and looked around. Jane was asleep on her bed with a white cat curled up next to her.  _Maybe she’s a beast-tamer. I’ll have to test on the cat._ Aradia walked up to her quietly. Then the cat suddenly jumped up and hissed at her, waking Jane up.

“Who’s there?!” Jane asked. Aradia quickly cut her finger and held it in front of the cat. The cat stared at it and she moved her finger in a circle. After a few seconds the cat passed out. “Gcat!” Jane exclaimed. She picked up the small cat and stared at it.

“Don’t worry, your cat’s fine,” Aradia said. Jane looked up at her fearfully.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Aradia smiled.

“Hi Jane. I’m here to turn you. Just close your eyes and it won’t hurt too much, okay?”

“What?!” Jane moved away from her and Aradia grabbed her. She tried to break out of her grip but Aradia was stronger than her. She spun her around and held her still. 

“Just close your eyes Jane, it’ll be easier that way.”

“What are you-” Aradia covered her mouth and bit down. Jade screamed and tried to pull away, but it was useless. _One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten!_ Aradia let go and Jane collapsed. Aradia picked her up and in the end grabbed the small cat too. She carried them out of the room and into John’s room. Vriska was standing with John slung over her shoulder.

“What’s with the cat?” she asked.

“It’s Jane’s. She called him Gcat.” Vriska shrugged and jumped out the window. Aradia followed her and they leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

“This was so easy. I wonder how the others are doing?” Vriska said. Aradia shrugged.

“Let’s just hope they don’t screw up.”

“Yeah. Tavros must be disappointed to miss this.” Aradia nodded. _Oh well, he’ll just have to deal with it._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 more days until Christmas! Hope you're all excited too! Hopefully I'll update again on Thursday. But after that I probably won't until school starts because I'll be visiting some family.

Terezi sniffed through the window. She could smell Dave Strider inside; asleep. She sniffed at Gamzee and Feferi and gave them a thumbs-up.

“You go after Dirk, I’ll get Dave,” she said. Gamzee and Feferi nodded and made their way to the other end of the house. 

Terezi opened the window and climbed in. She sniffed around her. She smelled her way over to Dave, who was sleeping soundly. Terezi smiled to herself.  _This’ll be easy._ She reached forward and grabbed Dave. Dave instantly jolted awake and shoved her off him. Terezi went flying and hit the wall. She grimaced and stood up.  _Okay, he’s a light sleeper._ Dave pulled out a sword and swung it at her. Terezi ducked and kicked Dave so he went flying.

But Dave recovered quickly. And he suddenly appeared in front of Terezi so quickly she hadn’t seen him move. Terezi quickly ducked out of the way of another sword swing, but then got kicked by Dave and sent flying. She hit another wall and fell to the floor for a few seconds. Dave appeared in front of her and attacked. Terezi dodged quickly, starting to panic.

“Gamzee! I need back up!” she yelled.

Then Gamzee flew into the room. He didn’t really, he was thrown in. By none other than Dirk Strider. He also had a sword and was attacking Gamzee.  _Where’s Feferi?_ Terezi ducked another sword swing and cursed.  _I have to concentrate! Worry about Feferi later!_

Gamzee was really tall and strong, so he was well-matched with Dirk. Terezi was…alright, considering she was blind and had to smell and sense her opponent, but she couldn’t find and opening to attack Dave with him moving around all the time.  _Darn, I can’t keep this up! We have to get back before dawn!_ Terezi grimaced and dodged another kick. She got an idea suddenly and ducked another sword swing. When Dave kicked her she grabbed his foot and they both ran into the wall. Terezi immediately knocked Dave’s sword out of his hand and pinned him against the wall with his back to her. Terezi breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

“Terezi, duck!” Feferi yelled. Terezi ducked, avoiding a kick from Dirk. Feferi grabbed his shirt and pulled him away from Terezi. Gamzee jumped on his back and wrapped his arms around him. Feferi got his sword out of his hand and picked up Dave’s and moved out of their reach. Terezi wrapped her arms around Dave and held him still. Dave struggled and shouted, but Terezi, being a Vampire, was stronger than him. Terezi held Dave still and bit his neck. Dave screamed and Terezi heard Dirk scream right afterwards.

_One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine….ten!_ Terezi let Dave go and he collapsed in her arms. She looked at Gamzee and saw him holding an unconscious Dirk. Feferi sighed with relief.

“You guys had me worried there,” she said. “Who knew they’d be such good fighters?”

“And that they’d be so fast,” Terezi added. Gamzee nodded and slung Dirk over his shoulder. Terezi did the same with Dave and they jumped out the window.

“We’re probably the last to finish,” Terezi grumbled. “With how long that took.”

“It’s not a race,” Feferi said.

“At least we finished. I wanna go check on Tavbro,” Gamzee said. Terezi nodded and they quickened their pace. _He’s probably pretty lonely without everyone to keep him company._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Did you miss me? :)

Kanaya stood still on the rooftop. The Lalonde house was right in front of her. Sollux and Eridan were standing to either side of her.

“Alright, you two go after Roxy. I am going after Rose.” Sollux and Eridan nodded and set off. Kanaya jumped into the yard and climbed up to the window. She looked in and sighed with relief. Rose was clearly asleep. _I don’t want to have to scare her. Of course, she will forget it all when she wakes up._ Kanaya opened the window and climbed inside.

“Meow!” Kanaya stopped and looked down. A black cat in a grey suit was staring at her. Kanaya reached to it but it hissed and ran to Rose. Rose woke and sat up. She stared at Kanaya in surprise.

“Who are you?” she asked, getting up.

“I don’t mean to alarm you. I’m Kanaya.” Kanaya held her hand out for Rose to shake. Rose stared at her nervously for a few seconds. Then she reached out and shook Kanaya’s hand. _Sorry about this._ Kanaya pulled Rose towards her and wrapped her arms around her. The cat started hissing and meowing loudly. Kanaya took a deep breath and bit Rose’s neck. Rose screamed and tried to push Kanaya off her, but Kanaya was too strong. _One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten!_ Kanaya let Rose go and caught her as she fell. She laid her down gently on the floor. The cat was still meowing loudly at her. Kanaya cut her finger and held it in front of the cat. The cat became mesmerized by the blood as Kanaya moved her finger in a circle. Eventually the cat collapsed. Kanaya gently picked up Rose and her cat. She sighed and sat down. _I hope Sollux and Eridan finish quickly._

SOLLUX’S POV:

Sollux grinned and flew up to a window. While Tavros flew by manipulating wind, Sollux could use his psiionics to fly. Normally he wasn’t allowed to use them, but flying was usually fine so he was pretty sure he wasn’t breaking any rules. It was a Power from his family. Sollux opened the window and peered inside. Roxy was sitting on her bed, holding her phone.  _Dang, she’th not athleep._

“Helloooo? Janey? C’mon! Answer your phone!” Roxy said. “Oh, Janey-” There was a pause for two seconds as Roxy listened to the person on the other end of the line. “What? Who is this? Hello? Hello?” Roxy frowned and put her phone down. She had her back to the window and Sollux grinned. _If we act fatht, we’ll be done quickly._ He grabbed Eridan and carried him up to the window. Eridan held onto the ledge while Sollux climbed in first, and Eridan followed behind him.

Roxy was sipping some vodka and didn’t notice Sollux and Eridan at all. Sollux crept forward quietly.  _Too eathy._ He grinned and grabbed Roxy. Roxy screamed and elbowed him. She was really strong. She broke out of his grip quickly and spun around to face him, her hands in fists. Eridan moved and blocked the doorway so she couldn’t get out.

“Who are you two?! What do you want?!” Roxy said. Sollux scowled. _And I’m not allowed to uthe my pthiionicth outthide of the academy without permission! Thith ith thtupid!_ Sollux leapt forward and punched at Roxy. But Roxy ducked and pinned him to the ground. “I said what do you-”

Eridan leapt forward and tackled Roxy. Sollux grabbed her and they wrestled her until Sollux was holding her from behind and Eridan from in front.

“Meoooowl!” Roxy froze and looked out the door.

“That’s Jaspers! Rose?!” Roxy tried to get out of Sollux and Eridan’s grip, but they held her tight. A small black kitten with white dots above its eyes hissed and jumped on Eridan’s head, clawing at him. “Muti!” Roxy exclaimed. Eridan cursed and shook his head.

“Aaah!” Roxy froze and even the black kitten stopped clawing at Eridan.

“Rose!” Roxy yelled. Sollux took advantage of her distraction to bite her neck. Roxy screamed and struggled, but couldn’t break Sollux’s grip. _One…two…three…four…five…thix…theven…eight…nine…ten!_ Sollux let Roxy go and she collapsed. Eridan breathed a sigh of relief and let Roxy go. He then took the kitten off his head and cut his finger. While he dealt with the kitten Sollux picked up Roxy and carried her out of the room. Eridan followed behind him with the kitten and they entered Rose’s room.

Kanaya was sitting down, holding Rose and a black cat in a suit. She smiled and stood up when Sollux and Eridan entered.

“Great, let’s go,” she said. Sollux nodded and they all jumped out the window. They leapt across rooftops, making their way to the Academy.

“We did pretty good,” Sollux said. Kanaya and Eridan nodded.

“Hopefully the others didn’t screww up,” Eridan said.

“I do hope none of them got hurt,” Kanaya said.

“Don’t worry Kanaya. It’ll be fine,” Sollux said. Kanaya smiled and nodded.

“I know.”


	6. Chapter 6

John felt…weird. His body felt like it was burning, but it wasn’t too hot. And his mouth was sore, like he’d lost a bunch of teeth. But all his teeth were there. John opened an eye and gasped when he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He sat up and looked around him.  _Where am I?!_

He was in a room lit only by some torches on the wall, but he found that he could see clearly as though the entire room was lit up. There were beds lined up against the wall and the layout made John think of the infirmary in  _Harry Potter_ . But there weren’t curtains by the beds or windows looking over a big lawn and a Quidditch field. In fact, there weren’t any windows at all except for a few round ones about the size of John’s head way high up near the ceiling. John looked around him and noticed there were people in the beds next to him. He leaned close to one and gasped when he saw them.

“Jane!” he exclaimed, then flinched at how much his voice echoed. Jane, along with everyone else, woke up instantly and sat up.

“John?” Jane said.

“I’m right here.” John reached out and took Jane’s hand.

“John?”

“Dave!” John exclaimed.

“What happened?”

“I dunno. How many people are here?”

After a quick check John found out Dave, Jade and Rose were there with Dirk, Jake and Roxy.

“My teeth feel weird,” Jade said, feeling inside her mouth. She froze and her eyes went wide.

“Jade? Are you quite alright?” Jake asked.

“I have fangs,” Jade said. John immediately felt inside his mouth.

“I do as well,” he said. Everyone else reported saying they had fangs.

“What’s going on?” Roxy asked. “The last thing I remember is trying to phone Janey.”

“I don’t remember you phoning me,” Jane said.

“Yeah, you didn’t answer. Another girl did. She just said _Jane isn’t available right now_ , then hung up.”

“Weird.”

Suddenly the doors opened and a woman in a black robe with jade-green decorations walked in. She had a caring and powerful look to her and John felt himself relax instantly. She stopped in front of them all and smiled.

“Hello Jade, Jake, John, Jane, Dave, Dirk, Rose and Roxy. I am Dolorosa, Headmistress of Alternia Vampire Academy, which you are in right now. I welcome you as new students.”

“Wait, what?” John asked. He was confused.

“What are you talking about?” Jade asked. Dolorosa smiled and clasped her hands together.

“You have all been turned into Vampires,” she said.

“What?!” everyone exclaimed. Dolorosa nodded.

“As such, you are now living in this Academy. We will teach you how to live as Vampires along with other subjects.”

“How did we become Vampires?!” Jade asked.

“Do you promise not to be upset?” Dolorosa asked.

“No,” Rose said, glaring at her. Dolorosa nodded.

“I understand. I sent a team of young Vampires to turn you all.”

“Why would you do that?!” Dirk exclaimed.

“You moved into this town. Everyone who moves here gets turned.”

“Why?!”

“Because that is the fate of this land. A curse was placed over here hundreds of years ago by a young boy. If a human spends twenty-four hours on this land, they will die. As such, we must turn everyone who moves here or they will perish.”

“What kind of kid would make a curse like that?!” Jane exclaimed.

“A very evil one,” Dolorosa answered. “Now, you must all be shown to your rooms. You will be separated into two teams: Jade, John, Dave and Rose are one team while Jake, Jane, Dirk and Roxy are another. After a few weeks we will determine who the leader of your team will be. Please stand up and follow me.” Dolorosa turned and walked out of the room. John and everyone else hesitated for a seconds before getting up and following her.

She led them down some corridors and a few flight of stairs. Eventually she came to a door and knocked. A girl who looked like a younger Dolorosa entered. She stiffened when she saw Dolorosa and bowed her head.

“Hello mother,” she said. Dolorosa smiled and patted her shoulder.

“Hello Kanaya. You’ve all done well.” Kanaya smiled and nodded.

“Come in.” Kanaya stepped inside and Dolorosa followed after her. John and the others followed them in. There were eleven other kids in the room. They all had pale skin and John knew that if they smiled they would have sharp fangs. _Just like I have now._

“This is team #69,” Dolorosa said. “Karkat is the leader.” She pointed to a boy with curly black hair and wearing a black robe with a grey cancer symbol on it. “Jade, John, Dave and Rose, you are team #413. You will be given guidance by team #69 for a few weeks. Once you’ve accustomed to this place you can ignore them completely if you want to.”

“What about us?” Jane asked.

“You four will be assigned another group, as you are all older.” Dolorosa smiled. “Let me introduce everyone here. This is Karkat Vantas, Nepeta Leijon, Equius Zahhak, Vriska Serket, Aradia Megido, Terezi Pyrope, Gamzee Makara, Feferi Peixes, Kanaya Maryam, Sollux Captor, Eridan Ampora and Tavros Nitram.” She pointed to each person when she named them.

“Hi,” John said awkwardly.

“Hey,” Vriska said, waving. Karkat just grunted and Tavros mumbled something.

“I’ll take Jake, Jane, Dirk and Roxy to their group now,” Dolorosa said. “But first, do either of you have any questions?”

“Um, if we’re Vampires now, then do we have to drink blood from humans?” Jade asked.

“No. We supply blood to be drunk and we normally just drink the blood of other Vampires. It has the same effect, but Vampires will produce blood again more quickly, so they won’t get exhausted from having their blood drunk.”

“Oh.”

“If that is all, then will Jake, Jane, Dirk and Roxy please follow me?” Dolorosa swept out of the room and Jane said a quick bye to John before going after her. Jake, Dirk and Roxy did the same and soon the door shut, leaving Jade, John, Dave and Rose with the other twelve Vampires.

JANE’S POV:

Dolorosa led them down a hall and up some stairs to another door. She knocked and a young woman with long black hair in a black dress opened. She smiled when she saw Dolorosa.

“Mother!” she exclaimed. Dolorosa smiled and hugged her.

“Hello Porrim. I have a new team for your team to give guidance to.” Porrim looked at Jane and the others and grinned.

“Hello. Come in.” They walked in and were met by another eleven young adults, all of which resembled the last group a bit.

“This is team #68. Meenah is the leader.” Dolorosa pointed to a girl with long dark brown braids. She grinned and waved. “Jake, Jane, Dirk and Roxy, you will be team #412. Allow me to introduce everyone. This is Kankri Vantas, Meulin Leijon, Horrus Zahhak, Aranea Serket, Damara Megido, Latula Pyrope, Kurloz Makara, Meenah Peixes, Porrim Maryam, Mituna Captor, Cronus Ampora and Rufioh Nitram.” She pointed to them all as she named them.

“Hi,” Jane and Jake said automatically.

“Hi,” Aranea said.

“Hello,” Kankri said. He opened his mouth to say something else but Latula cut him off.

“Hi! Nice to meet you guys!” she said.

“I’m sure you’ll all get along great,” Dolorosa said. She smiled to Porrim. “Now, good luck.” She turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door.

_Now what?_


	7. Chapter 7

“Um, what do we do now?” John asked.

“Guys’s room is to your left, girls’s to your right,” Karkat said, pointing to two doors. “Your robes will get delivered here in a minute or so.”

“Why can’t we just wear what we’ve got now?” Dave asked. “I really prefer jeans and a shirt to robes.”

“Because this is still a fucking school, with a fucking dress code.” Karkat said. Then the door opened and a guy walked in. He looked surprised when he saw Jade, John, Dave and Rose. He turned to Karkat.

“Should I stab these guys?” he asked, pulling out a dagger.

“What?!” Jade exclaimed.

“No!” John yelled, jumping behind Dave and holding him.

“No Jack. These are some kittens,” Karkat said.

“They need discipline,” Jack said. Karkat shook his head and Jack sighed and put his dagger away. “Anyway, I’ve got four new robes. Probably for the kittens.” He put the robes on a table and walked out of the room.

“Who was that?” Dave asked.

“Jack Noire, he’s a messenger here,” Karkat said. “You’ll get used to him.”

“Get a room you two,” Terezi said, grinning at Dave and John. Then John realized he was hugging Dave. He immediately let go.

“I’m not gay!” he exclaimed. Dave smirked and Terezi and Vriska laughed. Nepeta pulled out a notebook and began drawing in it.

“Go change into your god-damn robes already,” Karkat said. John and the others grabbed their robes and went to the doors.

“Bec!” John turned and saw a big white dog jump on Jade. She laughed and stroked him. John and Dave grinned and walked up to him. Bec sniffed Jade curiously, then John and Dave and Rose. After a few seconds he seemed happy and wagged his tail. Then he looked at Karkat and suddenly started growling. Karkat sighed and scowled at the dog. Bec started barking loudly and Jade did her best to sooth him.

“Why’s he acting like that?” John asked.

“Because I’m a fucking Vampire. He already knows you four, so he doesn’t freak out when he sees you,” Karkat said.

“Shh Bec. It’s okay. He’s a good guy,” Jade said, stroking Bec’s fur. After awhile she dragged him into the girl’s dorm and Rose followed her. John heard loud meow and a bit of ruckus.

“Doesn’t Rose have a pet cat?” John said. Dave chuckled.

“Great. Both of them in the same room. That’s hilarious.” John grinned and laughed too. He and Dave went to the boy’s dorm and looked around. There were a bunch of beds lined up against the walls, each with a symbol above them. John went up to one with no symbol and sat down. Dave sat on the one next to him. John undressed and put on his robe, then looked around for a mirror. Then he remembered he was a Vampire. _I probably don’t have a reflection anymore. How am I supposed to gel my hair now?_

“How do I look?” John asked Dave. Dave looked at him and smirked.

“Well, with the weird green symbol of yours on a cool black robe, I’d say not too cool.” John rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. You’ve still got the symbol of that record.”

“Yeah, but they messed it up on this robe. It’s split in half.” Dave frowned at the symbol.

“Whatever. Let’s go see how Jade and Rose look.” They walked out of the room and found Jade and Rose talking to some of the trolls. Jade had her blue symbol that was the same as John’s and Rose had her symbol of a purple octopus, which actually looked really cool with the black robe.

“That is such a shitty symbol,” Karkat said when he saw John. Dave seemed to be trying hard not to laugh and John just rolled his eyes.

“Yours looks good Rose,” John said.

“Yeah, and the rest of us looks stupid,” Dave said.

“Hey!” Jade exclaimed. John laughed.

“Hey, at least we both look stupid Jade.”

JANE’S POV:

“Your robes got here just a few minutes ago,” Aranea said. She picked up some black robes and handed them to Jane and the others. “Girls’s dorm in on your right, boys’s on your left. Go get changed please.” Jane nodded and dragged Roxy into the dorm. Roxy was grumbling about needing a drink and Jane plopped her on a bed that didn’t seem to be used.

“Calm down Roxy. I’m sure you’ll get something to drink eventually,” Jane said. Roxy shrugged and got changed. Jane looked at her robe. It had the same blue symbol on her shirt. She smiled and changed into it. Roxy’s had her pink cat-symbol.

“Mew!” Roxy and Jane stopped and looked around. Gcat and Muti suddenly jumped at them.

“Gcat!” Jane exclaimed.

“Muti!” Roxy said. They laughed and petted their cats. After playing with the cats for a few minutes they picked them up and carried them out to the others.

Jake and Dirk had changed into their robes. Jake’s had his dark green skull symbol on them, which actually looked pretty good. Dirk’s had his orange baseball hat symbol, which looked pretty dumb. Though Jane knew her robe looked dumb too.

“Oh, aren’t those your pets?” Jake said, pointing to Gcat and Mewti. Roxy nodded and held up Mewti.

“Yep! All of you bow down to the adordabale—shit, adorable, Muti!” Jane laughed and bowed comically.

“Where’s Bec?” Jake asked.

“I think your dog’s with Jade,” Aranea said, smiling.

“Oh, that’s fine then.” Aranea smiled at him and Jane had a strong suspicion that she liked him. Meulin took out a notebook and started drawing something.

“Anyway, it’s time for dinner,” Porrim said. “Come on, we’ll lead you to the Sister Eating Hall and Brother Eating Hall.”

“The what?” Jane asked.

“Female Vampires are referred to as Sister, and the males Brother. They eat separately.”

“Aw, really?” Roxy said. “I wanna get Dirky drunk!”

“No,” Dirk said.

“There’s no alcohol served at dinner,” Kankri said. “It could prove to be quite triggering as alcohol has a stronger effect on Vampires than on humans, and as such many would get far too drunk by accident and could act shamelessly and accidentally humiliate themselves. The Headmistress does not wish for this to happen, so alcohol is banned here-”

“What?!” Roxy exclaimed. Jane sighed and patted her shoulder.

“You’ll survive Roxy,” she said.

“No I won’t! I need vodka! How the hell am I supposed to live here if we can’t drink?!”

“Actually, it’s allowed at Festivals,” Latula said. “Like Halloween, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, stuff like that! It’s just toned down a bit so that we don’t get too drunk.”

“Oh, great!” Roxy said. “Okay, I can live here if we get some alcohol at parties.”

“Aren’t we going to eat?” Rufioh asked.

“Yeah, come on you guys! Follow your leader!” Meenah said. She walked out of the room and the others followed her. Jane and Roxy put Gcat and Muti down and followed them and Jake and Dirk.

Eventually they came to two doors. One had the words “Sister Eating Hall” written on it, while the other one had “Brother Eating Hall”.

“Bye guys!” Meenah said to the boys, waving. The boys went into the Brother Eating Hall while Jane and Roxy followed Meenah’s group into the Sister Eating Hall. There were long tables that stretched across the length of the room. Jane grinned when she saw Jade and Rose.

“Hi!” she said, walking up to them.

“Hello,” Rose said. She looked at Meenah and her group and smiled. “That’s your group?”

“Yeah, they’re all the older siblings of your group!” Roxy said. “Crazy, huh?”

“Not really,” Kanaya said. She smiled thinly to Porrim, who waved to her.

“Come on! Let’s all sit together!” Latula said, sitting next to Terezi. Jane and Roxy sat down with the others and waited.

“Here comes the food!” Terezi exclaimed.


	8. Chapter 8

Food floated in on plates and bowls and cups in front of them magically filled up with blood. Jane stared at it in surprise.

“How did they do that?” she asked.

“Magic,” Aranea answered. “Many Vampires get Powers, even humans that are turned can get Powers. Though we don’t know whether you or Roxy and your friends will.”

“Oh.”

“Cool, so I could like, move objects with my mind?” Roxy said.

“Maybe. Some of us can do that.”

“Enough chit-chat! Let’s eat!” Latula said. The food landed in front of them. There was meat, bread, fruit, soup and lots of other dishes. It made Jane think of a feast at _Hogwarts_ in _Harry Potter_. She grinned and started piling food on her plate.

While she ate she noticed Nepeta and Meulin were each drawing in notebooks and talking to each other. They would show each other the drawing every once in awhile, then move on to the next one. They seemed very into whatever they were doing. Jane shrugged and went back to eating.  _It probably doesn’t concern me._

“Janey! Try some of this kebob!” Roxy said, sticking some food into Jane’s mouth. Jane grinned and chewed.

“Tasty.” she said. Roxy grinned and nodded. Jane looked at Roxy’s plate and smirked. “Aren’t you going to eat any vegetables?” Roxy rolled her eyes.

“Janey, you sound like a mom.” she said. Jane picked up a piece of zucchini from her stir fry and held it out to Roxy.

“Eat this,” she commanded. Roxy stared at it suspiciously.

“What is it?”

“Stir-fried zucchini with tasty seasonings. Eat it Roxy.” Roxy frowned at the zucchini and shook her head. “But you’d eat it if there was vodka in it?” Roxy perked up and grinned.

“Totally-” Jane shoved the zucchini in her mouth when she started talking. Roxy coughed and Jane held her mouth closed. After awhile Roxy chewed and swallowed and Jane brought her hands down. “Oh, that’s actually pretty good!”

“Told you.” Jane grinned and noticed Nepeta and Meulin were grinning at her and Roxy and drawing in their notebooks. _What are they doing?_ Jane shrugged it off and handed some zucchini to Roxy. _It’s probably nothing._

JOHN’S POV:

“There’s no apple juice!” Dave complained. John giggled and filled his plate with more food.

“Just enjoy your food Dave.” he said. Dave huffed and nibbled at a chicken wing.

“So who’s the mini-Jake?” Rufioh asked, pointing to John.

“That’s John. He’s Jane’s cousin,” Jake said. John smiled and shook Rufioh’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” he said.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Rufioh.” The others introduced themselves. Kurloz signed his name and Mituna translated for them.

“Are you mute?” John asked. Kurloz opened his mouth, revealing what was left of his tongue.

“What happened? Did you bite off your own tongue?” Dave asked. Kurloz nodded and smiled. “Wait, seriously? Why would you do that?”

“Hey, do you guys have any Powers?” Rufioh asked suddenly, changing the subject.

“Huh? No,” John said.

“Now that you’ve been turned, you might get some,” Kankri said. “It is common for humans who are turned to develop unique Power(s), though most get common ones. Since you don’t know, you will probably be taken by surprise by your Power(s), if you get any. If you don’t I understand that that can be very triggering. Karkat almost seemed to not have any Power either. It sometimes just takes awhile for your Power(s) to come out. It’s like being a late-bloomer for puberty. Except there is a chance you won’t get any Power(s) at all, so it’s not exactly like it.”

“Cool!” John said.

“Does flash-stepping count as a power?” Dave asked.

“Nah, that’s just some miraculous shit from intense training,” Gamzee said.

“Oh. How’d you know what flash-stepping is?” John thought he saw Gamzee and a few others tense up for a moment, but then he just grinned and shrugged.

“I dunno. Probably read about it somewhere.”

When they finished eating they all stood up and walked out. John had to make sure not to lose his group in the crowd of other students. Eventually they met up with the girls. Meulin began signing quickly to Kurloz while Jake and Dirk joked about something. Meulin grinned when she saw them and began drawing in a notebook.

“Let’s all hang out together!” Nepeta said suddenly. Meulin nodded and started signing.

“You’ve got some new shippings and you want to show us?” Aranea translated. Meulin and Nepeta nodded enthusiastically.

“Plus, we don’t hang out much anymore. It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah! Let’s hang out in your team’s room!” Latula said.

“Yeah!” Terezi said.

“Why not? Sounds like fun,” Aranea said.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Nepeta said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main reason for this chapter was because I wanted to write something with Nepeta and Meulin being cute. That and shippings.

“Okay! Attention efuryone!” Nepeta said loudly, holding up her shipping notebook. They were all sitting in the lounge room for team #69. All the young adults were sitting with them and Nepeta and Meulin were standing in front of them. (But Cronus didn’t feel like sitting down so he was standing.)

“You’ve got our attention Nepeta!” Terezi said. She was grinning.

“Okay! I’ve got new ships fur the new arrivals, and I’ve updated my ships fur efuryone else too!” Nepeta said. “Ready?” She flipped to the first one.

John and Dave.

“What?!” John exclaimed. “I’m not gay!” Terezi, Latula and Vriska laughed and Dirk smirked at John and Dave. John could feel himself blush and Jade was giggling. Nepeta was grinning at John and Dave and John covered his face with his hands. “Cut it out.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen Egderp,” Dave said, grinning.

“Dave, you’re not helping!” John said.

“Next one!” Nepeta said, flipping the page.

John and Vriska.

“Uh…” John had no idea how to comment. Vriska grinned at him and Terezi was wiggling her eyebrows at them. John closed his eyes and tried to ignore everyone. “Let’s do the next shipping please.”

“Okay!” Nepeta said, turning the page.

Jade and Dave.

“What?” Jade exclaimed. Dave seemed surprised too, though it was hard to tell with his poker face.

“No offense, but I wouldn’t,” Dave said. Nepeta pouted and turned the page.

Dave and Terezi.

“Uh, no,” Dave said. Terezi grumbled and Nepeta pouted and turned the page.

Rose and Kanaya.

“Oh,” Rose said. Kanaya just smiled and didn’t comment. Nepeta and Meulin grinned at them and made hearts with their hands.

“Okay, next! Next!” Terezi said. Nepeta nodded and flipped to the next page.

John and Karkat.

“I’m not-”

“John we get it!” Terezi yelled.

“I’m not gay either,” Karkat said. Nepeta giggled and turned the page.

Jade and Tavros.

“W-what?!” Tavros exclaimed. He seemed totally flustered.

“Uh, no thanks,” Jade said. Nepeta sighed and turned the page.

John and Dirk.

“What?!” John, Dave and Dirk all exclaimed.

“No fucking way!” Dave said. Vriska snuck up behind him, grinning.

“Daaaaaaaaves jeaaaaaaaalous!” she said. Dave jumped and turned around while Vriska and Terezi laughed.

“Don’t do that!” Dave said. Vriska just smirked at him.

“Okay, next! Next one!” Terezi said, taking some deep breaths. Nepeta and Meulin stopped making hearts with their hands around John and Dave and flipped to the next page.

Dirk and Roxy.

“Yeah! You go Nepeta!” Roxy cheered.

“Roxy, I’m gay,” Dirk said. Roxy pouted and threw a pillow at him.

“You’re no fun!” she complained. Nepeta smiled and turned the page.

Karkat and Sollux.

“I already said I’m fucking straight,” Karkat said.

“Yeah,” Sollux said. Nepeta rolled her eyes and turned the page.

Kankri and Cronus.

Terezi and Vriska burst out laughing while Karkat and Eridan did a double-take. Kankri stood up and started ranting about how triggering that was and blah, blah, blah. Terezi grinned and ran up to him and yelled “Now kiss!” and shoved him on Cronus. And yeah, they accidentally kissed.

John, Latula, Vriska and Terezi were laughing so hard at that point. Karkat and Eridan were face-palming and Meulin and Nepeta were cheering and making hearts with their hands around Cronus and Kankri. Kankri got up and started babbling apologies to Cronus and about triggers. Cronus didn’t seem to really care. In fact, he was smirking at Kankri, who just kept babbling on.

“I think you broke my brother,” Karkat said, looking at Kankri. Kankri snapped out of it and sat down quietly. Cronus stood back up, still smirking.

“Purrfect!” Nepeta said. She grinned and flipped to the next page.

Karkat and Eridan.

“Nepeta! Did you just do shippings for me with everyone here?!” Karkat exclaimed while Eridan hit his head against the wall.

“Um…yeah?” Nepeta said.

“Why?!”

“Because mew’re so shippable Karkitty.” Nepeta said.

“Might as well go get some Karkat,” Dave said. “You’ve got plenty of options.”

“Fuck you Strider!” Karkat snapped. Dave laughed.

“I thought you said you’re not gay.”

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

“Let’s skip all the Karkat ones,” Rose said. “They seem to be bothering him.”

“Just one more,” Nepeta said, turning to the next page.

Karkat and Jade.

“What?! That’s…” Karkat blushed and shook his head. Jade just looked surprised. Nepeta and Meulin grinned at them. “Nepeta, go to the next fucking shipping!” Karkat snapped. Nepeta sighed and turned the page.

Jane and Jake.

“We’re cousins!” Jane and Jake exclaimed.

“Oh,” Nepeta said. She ripped the drawing out, then another one which looked to John like one of him and Jade. Jade rolled her eyes and he nodded. Rose had done the same thing before they told her they were cousins.

“Next!” Nepeta said, turning the page.

Jane and Roxy.

“What?” Jane said. “I…uh…” Roxy started laughing.

“I dunno. Maybe I’m bi,” she said. Nepeta grinned proudly.

“Let’s see the next one Nepeta,” Terezi said.

“It’s getting late though, so this is the last one,” Porrim said.

“How about two more?” Nepeta asked. Porrim sighed but nodded. Nepeta grinned and flipped the page.

Dirk and Jake.

“What?” Jake exclaimed. John thought Dirk seemed to be trying hard not to smirk as Jake blushed. Nepeta and Meulin grinned while Terezi and Vriska laughed.

“Last one!” Nepeta said. She turned the page.

Jake and Aranea.

“What?!” Dirk exclaimed. Jake looked surprised while Aranea just smiled at him, making him blush. Dirk looked like he was probably glaring at Aranea, though it was impossible for John to tell with his anime shades on.

“Okay, it’s time for bed,” Porrim said. Nepeta complained but put her notebook away. Jane said goodnight to John and nagged him to brush his teeth before leaving. Vriska smirked at John and he blushed and turned his gaze away. _Jeez Jane, you’re not my mom! Don’t act like it!_

“C’mon Egderp,” Dave said, tugging on his sleeve. “Let’s get some sleep.” John nodded and followed Dave and the other guys into the boy’s dorm. John lay down and sighed. Dave grinned at him. “What’s wrong John?”

“It’s weird how natural it already feels to live here,” John said.

“This is a Vampire castle,” Equius said. “That is a natural reaction, as is immediate relaxation upon seeing the Headmistress.”

“Oh.” John lay over and closed his eyes. He licked his lips thirstily and pulled his blanket over his head. _Just go to sleep. Just go to sleep._


	10. Chapter 10

“Heeeeeeeey Joooooooohn.” John opened his eyes and sat up. Vriska was grinning at him. John stared at her in surprise. _This is the boys’ dorm. What is she doing here?_

“Uh, what are you doing here?” John asked. Vriska grinned.

“You acted totally embarrassed with the shipping drawing of you and Dave,” she said. “Do you have a crush on him?”

“No!” John whispered loudly. He could feel himself blush. “I’m not gay! I’m totally straight!” Vriska’s grin just got wider.

“Good,” she said. She leaned forward and kissed him.

John was frozen. He had no idea what to do. He’d never kissed a girl before. Or gotten kissed by one. But as John sat there something in him snapped a bit, and Vriska kissing him felt oddly wrong. And John suddenly shoved her off him. But he hadn’t moved his arms. And then John realized he was floating. Vriska stared at him in shock.

“John’s got wind Power!” she suddenly exclaimed loudly. Everyone immediately woke up and crowded around. Even the girls ran in.

“Why is John floating?” Dave asked.

“He’s being carried by wind,” Vriska said. “He’s got wind Power!”

“Vriska, what are you even doing in here?” Dave asked.

“I was just visiting John,” Vriska said, shrugging. John felt himself blush and suddenly fell back on his bed. Dave immediately went up to him.

“You okay?” he asked. John nodded.

“Fine.” Vriska moved to help him but suddenly got thrown back by wind. “Oh, s-sorry. I don’t think I can control it yet…”

“Vriska, what did you do?” Terezi asked. Vriska rolled her eyes.

“Oh, fine. I kissed him.”

“What?!” Dave exclaimed. Vriska grinned at him.

“You’re jealous,” she said.

“No, I’m just wondering why you kissed my best bro!” Dave said.

“He said he’s not gay,” Vriska said.

“And he pushed you away, so he obviously doesn’t like you,” Terezi said. “Now come on, let’s go to bed.”

“Hang on, I have to go report John’s Power,” Karkat said, walking out.

“Alright, everyone else; go to sleep,” Kanaya said. John lay back down in bed, still unnerved by what had happened. The girls walked out and Dave gave him a worried look before lying back down.

“Goodnight John,” he whispered.

“Goodnight Dave.”

KARKAT’S POV:

“I see,” The Summoner said. “Thanks for telling me Karkat. I’ll let Dolorosa know.”

“Okay.” Karkat nodded and walked out of the room.

“Oh, Karkat?” Karkat stopped and turned to the Summoner.

“What?”

“How’s Tavros doing?”

“Fine.”

“Okay. That’s good. Take good care of him for me, would you?” Karkat nodded and the Summoner smiled. “Thanks. Goodnight.”

“G’night.” Karkat walked back to his team’s room and back to the boys’ dorm. Everyone else was already asleep. Karkat sighed and lay back down. _That was fast. I guess we’ll find out about the others’ Power(s) soon enough. Or not. I dunno. It’s too early in the morning to think about this._ Karkat sighed and closed his eyes, drifting asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

“Wake up John.” John sighed and pulled his pillow over his head. “John. Egderp. Eggy-Eggy-Egderp. Do you read me? Egderp. John. Johnny. Come on. Don’t make me tickle you. Okay, you asked for it.” John yelped and laughed as Dave tickled him.

“O-okay! I’m up! Ha-ha-ha-ha! S-stop it!” Dave kept tickling John until he fell out of bed, gasping for breath. Dave grinned at him and helped him to his feet.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” John grinned and started tickling Dave. Because John knew that Dave is extremely ticklish. “Fuck! John, cut it out-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Seriously!”John kept tickling Dave until he was on the floor laughing and holding his side. John leaned over him, grinning triumphantly.

“I win.” Dave smirked and John helped him up. When they walked out of the dorm everyone was waiting for them. And Nepeta and Terezi were grinning at them. John felt him start to blush and quickly walked over to Jade.

“Good morning Jade,” he said.

“Morning John.”

“Okay, let’s go eat,” Karkat said. Tavros was in a wheelchair, so Gamzee didn’t have to carry him like at dinner. John followed them all to breakfast. When they got to the Brother Eating Hall Dirk, Jake and the others were already there. John and Dave sat down together and soon breakfast food came over. And the goblets filled with blood.

“We’re all going to the practice grounds today,” Karkat said. “I booked it for us for the first half of the night.”

“Night?” John asked. Karkat stared at him.

“Vampires are automatically nocturnal. It’s night right now.”

“Oh.”

“We’ve got the practice grounds after you guys,” Rufioh said. “Meenah booked it for us. Because we’ve got new students.”

“What do you do at the practice grounds?” John asked.

“Practithe fighting,” Sollux said.

“Why do we have to do that?” John asked.

“In case of Vampire Hunters,” Equius said. John gulped and Jake looked startled.

“Wait, some actually exist?” he said. “And they come here?”

“Well, that hasn’t happened for some hundred years,” Equius said. “But we should always be prepared.”

“Yeah, you should,” Dirk said. He suddenly appeared behind Dave and smacked him with his puppet Lil’ Cal. Then he appeared back in his seat and took a sip of blood.

“Oh, it’s on!” Dave yelled, jumping up. Dirk stood up and pretty soon they were flash-stepping across the table. Somehow they didn’t knock any food off. _That just shows how great the Striders are._ John grinned and cheered on Dave, while all the others except Jake stared in confusion.

“How are they doing that?” Sollux asked.

“It’s flash-stepping,” John said.

“They do this quite lot,” Jake said. “You’ll get used to it.”

After breakfast they met up with the girls again and Karkat took them all to the practice grounds, which was outside. There were dummies to attack and an obstacle course. And there was a shed.

“What’s in the shed?” John asked.

“Weapons,” Karkat answered. “What do you guys use?”

“Katana,” Dave said instantly.

“Guns,” Jade said.

“Knitting needles,” Rose said.

“Okay, what about you?” Karkat asked John.

“Uh…I don’t know. A hammer I guess?”

“Go get those in the shed,” Karkat said. “Uh, but I don’t know about knitting needles.”

“I have some,” Kanaya said. “I’ll go get them.” She left and John, Jade and Dave went into the shed. Its walls were piled high with weapons of different kinds and sizes. John stared at them all in surprise. _Where did they get all these?_

“Here are the katanas,” Dave said. John looked around until he found some hammers. He picked one that wasn’t too heavy while Jade grabbed a gun. They came back out in time to see Kanaya come back with some black and purple knitting needles for Rose.

“Thanks,” Rose said.

“Okay, all of you take turns trying out the dummies,” Karkat instructed. John and the others watched as Jade walked up to them and shot them all with great precision. She grinned and skipped back. Then Rose went up. She had some yarn Kanaya had also brought. She stabbed two dummies with the needles then pulled on the yarn to uproot them. Then she swung them at the other dummies, knocking them all over. She smiled and walked back and the dummies magically went back to their original places. Then everyone looked at John. _I’m gonna suck at this._

He sighed and walked up to the dummies. “I’ve never even tried using a weapon,” he complained.

“Just go for it John!” Dave said. John nodded and faced the dummies. He jumped at them and hit them randomly with his hammer. He managed to knock a few over and shook some others. Overall, he thought his attempt was pathetic. But Dave patted him on the back and said he did great. Then he walked up to the dummies.

Dave was a blur. He thrust his sword and cut at all the dummies and then went to the next one so quickly John couldn’t follow his movements with his eyes.  _I’m never going to be that good. Even if I’d been trained from birth like Dave, it wouldn’t really make a difference. I’m not a fighter, Dave is. I’m just good at playing the piano and playing pranks. Should I just do that in battle? No, I can’t think of how throwing a pie in someone’s face would work._ John sighed as he watched Dave. He was jealous of how good Dave was, but he wouldn’t admit it. Dave was cutting the dummies with his sword so quickly and efficiently. Then suddenly a bird flew in front of him and Dave accidentally stabbed it.

He froze and there was about a second of silence. Then Jade ran up to him.

“Dave! How could you kill that poor bird?!” she cried.

“It was an accident!” he protested. John burst into laughter, as did Terezi and Vriska. _Oh man! What is the chance of that happening?! Of course that would happen to Dave! Oh, that’s perfect! Oh man!_ John laughed and laughed as Jade yelled at Dave and Tavros held the dead bird.

“C’mon Tavros! Let’s go bury this poor dead bird!” Jade said, dragging Tavros off. Gamzee ran up and followed them while Dave walked back to John and the others. John grinned at him, still laughing.

“Nice one Dave!” he joked.

“Shut up Egderp,” Dave grumbled.

JADE’S POV:

_Poor, poor bird._ Jade, Tavros and Gamzee dug a little grave for the crow. Jade grabbed a good-shaped rock and carved it. She put it on top of the grave and thought a silent prayer for the bird.  _May you please make it to bird heaven. Please forgive my idiot friend who killed you. If you can’t, I understand._ Jade put a daisy on the grave and stood up. Dave and the others walked up and Karkat said it was almost time for lunch. Dave looked at the grave and stopped.

““The poor bird that Dave accidentally stabbed. Dave you dick”?!” he exclaimed.

“It’s your punishment Dave.” Jade said, crossing her arms. John started laughing again and Dave scowled at her.

“It was an accident!”

“I know. I wrote that.” Jade pointed at the gravestone, still glaring at Dave.

“This is just stupid Jade. You’re so childish,” Dave said. Jade glared at him.

“Will you shut up?!” she snapped. Everyone went suddenly quiet. “I don’t care if I’m childish! Sometimes you’re poker face is so good you seem totally uncaring! And you’re always making stupid raps and misusing the word ironic and you can be so annoying I sometimes just want to SCREAM!”

Then Dave suddenly disappeared.


	12. Chapter 12

“What?!” Jade exclaimed. “What just happened?!”

“Dave?!” John yelled. He panicked and looked around. “Dave!”

“I’m over here!” Everyone turned and saw Dave hanging upside down in a nearby tree. John was so relieved to see him okay that he didn’t stop himself from laughing. “Shut up John! And get me down from here!”

“How did you even get up there?” John asked, walking up to the tree.

“I dunno. I was just getting yelled at by Jade and suddenly I’m stuck in a tree.” John grinned and jumped up to him. Wind instantly lifted him up to Dave. He grabbed his best bro and brought him to the ground. “Thanks,” Dave said awkwardly. John grinned.

“No problem.”

“I’m sorry Dave! I hadn’t meant to do that!” Jade said.

“Well, now we know your Power,” Karkat said. “I’ll go report it. You guys should go have lunch soon.” Karkat jogged back inside while Jade kept apologizing to Dave.

“It’s fine. I’m totally fine Jade,” Dave said. “You’re not gonna ruin this ass by teleporting me into a tree.” John burst out laughing and Jade punched Dave in the arm.

“I take it back, I’m not sorry.” Dave disappeared and appeared in the tree again.

“Jade!” he exclaimed. Jade laughed and he appeared back on the ground.

“Come on guyth, let’th go eat,” Sollux said. “I’m thtarving.”

“Should we put these back?” John asked, holding up his hammer.

“No, you can keep those,” Aradia said. John nodded and they all went back inside. They went back to the dorms so John and the others could put their new weapons away. Then they went to eat.

“Hey John!” Jake said. “How was the practice grounds?”

“Jade teleported Dave into a tree,” John said, grinning.

“Shut up John!” Dave said. Dirk smirked and Jake looked surprised.

“And before that a bird flew in front of him while he was swinging his sword and he accidentally stabbed it,” John added.

“John!” Dave said. Dirk chuckled and they all sat down. Food came and John started eating.

“I bet ten buckth Dirk thtabth a bird too,” Sollux said.

“I’m not gonna do something so stupid,” Dirk said. Dave threw some food at him and Dirk instantly retaliated, causing a food fight. John and Jake joined in and so did Gamzee, Kurloz and Mituna.

“Will mew please stop that?” a woman said, glaring at them. She had long dark brown hair and a black dress with olive-green designs on it and matching long black gloves. She looked sort of like Meulin. “I’m the one making the food and I’d purrefur it if mew didn’t waste it.”

“Sorry Ms. Leijon,” Gamzee said. The woman nodded and walked off.

“Who was that?” John asked.

“Nepeta and Meulin’s mom,” Gamzee said. “They’re a whole family of Catsis’s.”

JANE’S POV:

“Oh, so that’s your Power? Cool Jade!” Jane said. Jade nodded and grinned.

“Yeah! I think it’ll be pretty useful. I tested, and I can teleport anything! Even myself.” Then Jade disappeared and appeared behind Rose. “See?”

“Very impressive Jade,” Rose said. “You should show Jake soon.”

“Yeah!” Jade said. “Next time I see him I will.”

“And John seems to have mastered his Power,” Kanaya said. “He flew up to Dave and got him out of the tree.” Nepeta and Meulin grinned and Terezi chuckled. 

“Oh, come on! Don’t any of you support a relationship of me and John?” Vriska asked.

“He obviously doesn’t like you Vriska,” Jade said. “Just let it go already.” Vriska frowned at her and went back to eating.

“I wonder what my Power is,” Jane said.

“And mine! I wanna know really badly!” Roxy said, kicking her legs.

“You’ll find out eventually, if you have any,” Aradia said. “Just be patient.”

“I don’t wanna be patient!” Roxy exclaimed. Jane sighed and patted her head.

“Calm down Roxy. Just enjoy your lunch.” Roxy grinned and picked up her sandwich. Jane was eating a salad with an interesting dressing. “Do you want to try some of this?” she asked Roxy. Roxy stared at it, but nodded. _She must be getting curious about vegetables since she tried the stir-fried zucchini._ Jane smiled and put some salad covered in dressing on her plate. Roxy picked it up with her fingers and put it in her mouth.

“Oh! That’s cool! What’s the dressing?”

“No idea,” Jane said, shrugging. Roxy reached over and took some more of her salad. “Use a fork Roxy! Jeez!” Roxy grinned and took Jane’s fork and used it. Jane sighed and took the fork from her after she ate some more salad.

“Want a bite of my sandwich?” Roxy asked.

“What’s in it?” Jane asked.

“Uh, meat and a cool dip.” Roxy held the sandwich out to Jane. Jane sighed and took a bite. She blinked in surprise and swallowed quickly.

“Um, pretty spicy,” Jane said. She gulped down some blood from her goblet and Roxy nodded.

“I know. I like it.” She bit into it and grinned. “You like sweet stuff more, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, come on. Time to go to the practice grounds,” Meenah said. Jane and Roxy quickly finished eating and followed them down the hall. They saw the boys up ahead and Jade waved to Jake. Then she teleported right next to him, startling him so much he almost fell on Dirk. Jade laughed and Jake complemented her on her powers.

“Sooo, do we get weapons?” Roxy asked.

“Yeah, there are some in a shed,” Meenah said. They went outside and Meenah led them to the practice grounds. She pointed to a shed leaning against the Academy. “Go get whatever weapons you like using,” she instructed. Roxy dragged Jane in there and Dirk and Jake followed.

“I dunno what I’d use,” Jane said. “I’ve never tried using a weapon.”

“I’m gonna use a big gun!” Roxy said. “And I’ll just use my fists for close-combat fighting.”

“I prefer pistols,” Jake said. He grabbed some off the wall. Jane looked around while Dirk and Roxy got their weapons. She eventually picked a red trident in a corner.

“How about this?” she said.

“That looks good,” Roxy said. “C’mon! Let’s go!” She dragged Jane out with Dirk and Jake.

“Okay, each of you take turns beating the shit out of the dummies,” Meenah said, pointing to the dummies. Dirk went first, flash-stepping and stabbing the dummies furiously. When he finished he hardly looked tired and the dummies magically remade themselves.

“That was jolly great!” Jake said. Dirk grinned and Jake high-fived him. “Okay, I’ll have a go now.”

Jake was very skilled at shooting, which Jane knew well. He could always hit a target, no matter how fast or small it was. She’d seen him shoot a butterfly before. Then Jade had scolded him for killing an innocent butterfly. Jane grinned at the memory. Jake finished his go and walked back, grinning.

“That was amazing Jake!” Aranea said, patting his shoulder. He grinned at her.

“Thanks Aranea.”

“Good one Jake,” Dirk said, interrupting any conversation Jake and Aranea could have started. Jane could tell he seemed agitated about Aranea’s behaviour towards Jake. _She obviously likes him. I wonder how that will go for Dirk? I know he’s had a crush on Jake for awhile now._

“My turn!” Roxy said. She ran in front of the dummies and held up her big gun. “Die dummy freaks!” She began to shoot them all randomly, pelting them with bullets. Jane plugged her ears to tone down the loud gunshots. She grinned, watching Roxy’s enthusiasm. _She’s always wanted to try using a gun. Jake had been meaning to teach her._ When Roxy finished she ran up to Jane, grinning. “How was that Janey?”

“That was great Roxy.” Roxy grinned.

“Great! Now it’s your turn!” Jane sighed and picked up her trident.

“I don’t really know how to use this,” she admitted.

“No prob! I use a trident too!” Meenah said. She picked up a gold trident and grinned. “Come on! I’ll help you out.” Jane grinned and followed Meenah to the dummies.

Meenah taught her how to stab and slash with the trident and how to handle it well. Jane was a bit awkward the first few times, but after awhile she started to get the hang of it. She wasn’t perfect yet, but she was pretty good.

“Okay, that’s enough for today,” Meenah said after awhile. “It’s about time for dinner. Let’s put our weapons back in our room.”

“We get to keep them?!” Roxy exclaimed, holding up her gun.

“Of course, they’re yours.” They went back to their team room and Jane put her trident under her bed. Mheena showed her how to place it so that she could grab it quickly if needed. Gcat stood by it, like he was guarding it. Jane grinned and scratched him behind his ears.

“Come on Janey! Let’s go eat!” Roxy said. Jane nodded and followed her to the Sister Eating Hall.

“Hi Jane!” Jade said. “What weapon did you pick?”

“Hi Jade. I chose a trident,” Jane said, sitting down. “Meenah uses one too so she helped me out.”

“That’s so nice of you Meenah!” Feferi said. Meenah rolled her eyes.

“I’m responsible for her team too, and if I’m responsible for her, then I shore as shell ain’t letting her be terrible at fighting.” Feferi grinned and nodded.

“I sea,” she said. 

The food came floating in and Jane talked to Jade and Rose about their day.

“Jake was really good at shooting,” Aranea said to Jade.

“Yeah, we were taught by our Grandpa,” Jade said.

“Oh! You’re Grandfather must be really good then.” Jade grinned and nodded.

“Yeah, he was.” She smiled and went back to her food. Jane frowned and Rose patted Jade’s head. Jade didn’t show it, but Jane could tell she was upset. Jane hadn’t known Jake’s and Jade’s Grandpa very well, but she knew Jade well enough to know when she was upset.

“You want to go to the bathroom?” she asked. Jade nodded and stood up. Rose stood up to follow her but Jade just disappeared. Rose sighed and left after her. Jane hesitated before going as well. She saw Aranea’s confused look from the corner of her eye and sighed. _It’s not her fault. She doesn’t understand._

Jane came into the bathroom and found Jade by the sink, Rose holding her. Jane walked up and patted Jade’s head. Jade sniffed and rubbed her eyes. Jane hugged her with Rose and Jade started crying even harder.

“W-we never f-f-found out who killed him,” she wailed. “Someone j-just shot him! And they never got caught!”

“I know,” Jane said.

“It’s not fair!”

“I know,” Rose said. They stayed comforting Jade for a long time. Jane lost track of time, but it seemed to go by very slowly. When Jade calmed down and pulled out of their hug she was relieved.

“I’m okay now,” Jade said. She smiled to them and Jane nodded.

“Everyone’s probably asleep by now,” she said. Jade nodded. They left the bathroom and walked back to their rooms. Jane waved bye to Jade and went into her room. She lay down in bed and Roxy looked up at her.

“Is Jade okay?” she asked. Jane smiled and nodded.

“She’s fine now.”

JADE’S POV:

When Jade and Rose got back into the lounge area they found John, Karkat and Dave waiting there.

“Are you okay Jade?” John asked, coming up to her. “Nepeta said you teleported somewhere and that Jane and Rose went after you but she didn’t know where and we were worried!” Jade smiled and hugged John.

“I’m fine. Really.” She looked at Karkat. “You were worried?”

“I’m responsible for you and the rest of your team for a few weeks. If something happens to you I’ll be in deep shit.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Whatever. Just go to sleep.” Karkat walked back into the boys’ dorm. Dave followed him and after saying goodnight to Jade John did as well. Jade smiled and went to bed. Rose looked at her worriedly.

“You’re okay?” she asked. Jade smiled and nodded.

“I’m fine,” she said. Rose nodded and lay down.

“Good-morning Jade.”

“Good-morning Rose.”


	13. Chapter 13

After two weeks Dolorosa announced to John and his friends they got their own team room. Rose promised Nepeta she and Jaspers would visit and she promised that all of them would visit. John didn’t have a problem with that. He enjoyed the company of Karkat’s team. Jane, Roxy, Jake and Dirk also got to get their own room. John and his friends wound up in a room near Karkat’s team’s, while Jane said theirs was near Mheena’s team’s.

“And we have decided on who your team leader will be,” Dolorosa said. John, Jade, Rose and Dave were still in Karkat’s team’s lounge room. Karkat’s team was pretty excited to hear who would be the leader out of John, Jade, Rose and Dave. _I bet it’ll be Dave. He’s the best fighter out of all of us._ “You’re leader is John.”

“What?!” John exclaimed. Dave grinned and patted his back.

“Great job Egderp!” he said.

“Yeah! You’re perfect for that John!” Jade said.

“Really?” John asked.

“Of course,” Rose said.

“But I can’t fight well like you guys.”

“So? That’s not what being a leader is about,” Karkat said. “A leader should be good at tying their teammates together.”

“Oh. Well…okay then.”

“You can all go to your new team room now,” Dolorosa said. She smiled and walked out of the room. John grinned and they all ran to their new room.

It looked exactly like Karkat’s team’s room, but to John it seemed a bit different. It had a newer feel to it, like they were the first team to get this room. And heck, maybe they were. John put his stuff at his new bed and sat down in the lounge. Dave, Jade and Rose joined him and they spent awhile just sitting and grinning.

JANE’S POV:

“So, who’s their leader?” Porrim asked Dolorosa. Jane was standing next to Roxy, who was standing next to Jake, then Dirk. Jane was excited to know. _Though, it’ll probably be Dirk. He seems good for that job._

“Team #412, your leader is Roxy,” Dolorosa said. Jane gasped and Roxy’s jaw dropped.

“Are you serious?!” Roxy exclaimed. Dolorosa smiled and nodded.

“You’re good for that role Roxy,” Dirk said. Roxy seemed stunned.

“Really?”

“Sure. You’re good at holding us together and you’re the life of the party.” Roxy grinned.

“I do bring the alcohol.” Dirk sighed.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Roxy grinned.

“I know. Thanks Dirk.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Dirk tensed up and Jane knew it was because he was gay. Jane sighed. _Roxy never gives up._

“Great job Roxy,” Jane said, diverting everyone’s attention away from what just happened.

“Thanks Janey! I hope I do good!” Roxy grinned and hugged Jane.

“Alright, please go to your new room,” Dolorosa said. She smiled at Porrim and walked out. Roxy grinned and grabbed Jane’s hand and Dirk’s arm and dragged them off. Dirk grabbed Jake’s hand and he got dragged with them.

Their new room was pretty much just like Meenah’s team’s. But Jane found she liked it even more.  _Probably because it’s OURS!_ Jane put her trident carefully under her bed and joined Roxy, Jake and Dirk in the lounge. They sat down and Jane, Roxy and Jake grinned like idiots. The corners of Dirk’s mouth twitched, but he refused to drop his poker face.  _He never changes._

LATER THAT DAY:

After supper everyone hung out in Roxy’s team’s new room (everyone including Meenah’s team, John’s team and Karkat’s team.) Jane enjoyed listening to Aranea tell some long stories for awhile. Then Gamzee started juggling and doing acrobatics. Jane laughed and clapped with the others. Latula did balance tricks on her skateboard and Sollux juggled things with his psiionics. Then he started juggling Gamzee and Latula, who laughed loudly. Jane clapped and laughed as well.

At some point she realized Dirk and Aranea weren’t anywhere to be seen.  _I’ve got a bad feeling about this._ Jane checked to make sure everyone was focused on Sollux’s performance and snuck out. She listened for awhile until she could hear voices faintly. She walked as quietly as possible until she found Dirk and Aranea down a hallway.

“No, I _won’t_ stay away from Jake,” Aranea said, crossing her arms. “I don’t care if you’re jealous. I like Jake and I’ll go on liking him if I want!”

“He doesn’t like your type!” Dirk hissed, moving closer to Aranea. Aranea just glared at him, not moving.

“How would you know?! You probably don’t even know for sure if he’s gay!” Dirk flinched and Jane knew Aranea had guessed right. “Well, if he’s not then I guess I’ll just date him. There’s nothing wrong with that if he’s not gay! After all, he won’t like you if he’s not-”

“Shut up!” Dirk grabbed Aranea’s robe and glared at her. Aranea didn’t even flinch. “Stay away from my Jake!” Aranea shoved Dirk’s arms away, but when Dirk moved his arms away a ghostly image of Aranea seemed to come with him. Aranea screamed loudly and Dirk let go of her ghostly image in surprise. Aranea collapsed, breathing heavily.

“Aranea!” Jane exclaimed. She ran up and knelt next to her. “Are you okay?” Aranea nodded, breathing hard.

“Ouch. I’m fine,” she said. She glared at Dirk. “No thanks to you!”

“Stop it!” Jane snapped. “Don’t start arguing again!”

“Are you guys okay?” Jane turned and saw Jake and some of the others run up. “We heard someone scream.”

“Oh, Jake!” Aranea said, getting up. “That was me-”

“Can you all please return to your room?” Jane turned and saw a man who sort of looked like Tavros and Rufioh.

“Oh, Summoner!” Aranea exclaimed. She pointed to Dirk. “He-”

“Aranea,” the Summoner said. He didn’t speak loudly but Aranea shut up immediately. “Thank you. Would you all return to your room?” He looked at Jake and the others behind him and smiled. “Right now please?” Jake looked worriedly at Aranea before leaving with the others. The Summoner smiled and turned back to Jane, Aranea and Dirk. “Will you all please follow me?” He turned and walked off. Aranea followed him and Jane and Dirk followed as well.

The Summoner led them up some stairs and to his office. He sat down behind his desk and had them sit in some chairs. There was a dragon asleep behind him and he smiled at it as he sat down. He turned to Jane, Aranea and Dirk and frowned at them.

“Alright. I want you to explain what was going on. And I want Jane to go first, not you Aranea.”

“Um, well, I went looking for Dirk and Aranea and found them in the hallway. They were arguing and Dirk grabbed Aranea by her shirt and when she shoved him off he pulled a ghostly image of her away from her and she screamed. But when he let go of the image it went back into Aranea and she collapsed, but was fine otherwise.” The Summoner nodded.

“I see. Dirk, you are not at fault for this. You didn’t know what your Power was.”

“Uh, I still don’t. What did I do?”

“I’ll tell you what you did!” Aranea said. The Summoner held up a hand and Aranea went quiet and stared at the ground.

“Thank you Aranea, but he wasn’t asking you,” the Summoner said. He looked at Dirk and put his hand down. “You want to know what you did?” Dirk nodded and the Summoner sighed. “You started to rip her soul out of her body.”


	14. Chapter 14

No one else ever found out what Dirk did, as the Summoner forbade them from telling anyone. Aranea never seemed to forgive him, and Jane doubted she ever would.

After some weeks John was excited. Because it was Christmas Eve!

“I’m so excited!” John yelled, bouncing up and down. Dave laughed and Jade grinned.

“Calm down John, and help us put this stupid tree up,” Dave said. John helped Dave lift the tree upright and Jade and Rose started decorating it. Nepeta was there too with Equius and was putting mistletoe in doorways. Jane was sitting on the couch, stringing popcorn with Roxy. But Roxy was mostly just eating the popcorn and eventually Jane gave up and ate it with her.

“Okay, let’s all put presents underneath,” Jade said. John went and got Dave’s present along with Rose’s and Jade’s. He put them under the tree and Dave got his. Kanaya came with a present for Rose and Jane put a present for John underneath. Roxy put a present for Rose under the tree. Dirk came with Jake and put something for Dave under the tree. Jake put one for Jade. Feferi had presents for all of them. Then John, Jade, Dave and Rose went to Roxy’s team’s room and put their presents for their family under the tree. Latula came with presents for all of them. Aranea came and put a present for Jake under the tree. John saw her glare at Dirk. _They’ve been like that for awhile. Jade said she’s pretty sure they’re fighting for Jake. I wonder who will win?_

“Come on, let’s put our presents for the others under their tree!” Jade said. John and the others went to Karkat’s team’s room. John had presents for Karkat, Vriska, Terezi and Nepeta. He couldn’t figure out what the others wanted and they didn’t seem to care. Roxy had a present for Sollux and they got into a conversation about hacking. Dave had a present for Terezi and one for Karkat. Jade had presents for Tavros, Gamzee, Karkat and Aradia. Rose had presents for Kanaya, Nepeta, Terezi, Karkat, Feferi and Eridan. After all that they hung out in Karkat’s team’s room.

“These decorations are purrfect!” Nepeta said, holding up some tinsel. Equius picked her up and carried her on his shoulders so she could stick the tinsel up high. Bec, Gcat and Muti were all locked up so that they didn’t get to the tinsel. Rose said it was bad for them to eat it.

“Is there a Christmas feast?” John asked excitedly.

“Yeah! It’s really great!” Vriska said. John was totally excited! He kept jumping around. But after awhile he got tired and sat down. Dave sat next to him.

“Burned off all the excitement already?” he asked.

“Nope, I’m just tired,” John said.

“That’s because you ran around too much.” John grinned and shrugged.

“I guess so. I’m pretty worn out.”

THAT MORNING, DAVE’S POV:

Dave woke up at some point in the middle of the day. He looked to the bed next to him and realized John wasn’t there.  _Did he have to go see the presents? He better not be opening them already!_ Dave rolled his eyes and got up. He walked out of the dorm and looked at the tree. But John wasn’t there.  _Did he go to the bathroom? He was so tired I guessed he wouldn’t be able to wake up._ Dave frowned and walked out and down the hall to the bathroom. He felt like something was up.

When he got to the bathroom he looked for John. He couldn’t see him outside the stalls so he checked to see if any of them wouldn’t open. When he found one he knocked on the door.

“John? You in there?” he asked. He could hear someone breathing on the other side. Ever since he’d become a Vampire his senses had increased greatly. He bent down and looked at the feet he could see under the door. _Yep, that’s John._ “John, are you okay?”

“Oh, uh…” Dave heard John hurl and he frowned.

“Did you just get sick on Christmas Eve? Dude, that sucks. I’m coming in there.” Dave crawled under the door and looked at John.

John was sitting next to the toilet with his back to the wall. He was curled up into a ball and he was really pale, even for his skin tone. Dave stared at him.  _Is he getting thinner? Or does he always look like that?_ Dave reached forward and grabbed John’s arm.  _His arm shouldn’t be that thin!_

“John, what’s going on?” Dave asked. John shrugged and shivered. “You aren’t doing that weird thing models do where they eat then puke up what they ate are you?”

“No! D-don’t be silly!” John said.

“Then why are you so thin?” John shrugged.

“I don’t know. I-I’ve just been getting thin no matter how much I eat. And I f-felt really sick since I started getting t-tired earlier. A-and now I’m all cold.”

“You’ve been eating fine at dinner right?” John nodded. Dave thought for a moment. Then a thought hit him. “John, can you promise to answer a question totally honestly?” John hesitated before nodding. “Are you drinking the blood they serve at dinner?”

“………………No.” Dave sighed and hung his head.

“John-”

“I don’t wanna be a Vampire!” John said. “I-I wish I was still human! If I don’t drink blood, I’m still human, right? I can still be normal-”

“John, stop it! You’re going to make me depressed.” John closed his mouth and stared at the ground. Dave pulled out a small knife and made a cut on his finger. He held it in front of John’s face. “Here. Drink.” John stared at him with wide eyes.

“What?! No, I can’t! I-”

“John! You drink my blood or I will force you to! Karkat told us a few days after we came here that Vampires die if they don’t drink blood!” John hung his head and wrapped his arms around himself. “John, please. I don’t want to see you die.” John looked up at him with his huge blue eyes and sighed. He leaned forward and sucked on Dave’s bleeding finger. After a few minutes Dave got him to bite his wrist so that he could get enough blood.

Dave could tell John hated drinking his blood, and he wished there could have been another option. But he could see that John was reaching his limit and he needed lots of blood, and fast.  _He went two months without drinking blood! How did I not notice earlier?!_ Dave sighed inside and watched John. His colour was already turning better and Dave could see energy returning in his eyes. He smiled to himself.  _He’ll be fine now. I’ll keep a close eye on him at dinner from now on._

After awhile John stopped and put Dave’s arm down. He curled up into a ball again and stared at the ground. Dave licked the wound and it disappeared. He rolled his sleeve back down and looked at John.

“Better?” he asked. John nodded. Dave reached forward and pulled John into a hug. “I’m really sorry you’re not a human anymore John.”

“It’s not your fault,” John whispered. Dave nodded.

“Yeah, but maybe I could have done something about it, made sure you didn’t move to this town.” John just shook his head.

“We can’t time travel Dave. And honestly…even if we could, I don’t think I’d want to change what happened.”

“Really?”

“It’s weird but…I get the feeling I’d be unhappy if I undid all this. I’ve made lots of new friends and had weird new experiences and…even if some of it makes me unhappy I don’t want to let this go.” Dave smiled and rested his head against John’s.

“Those are surprising words of wisdom Egderp.” John chuckled.

“Yeah, I surprised myself too.” Dave grinned. _Good, he’s happier now._ Dave stared at him and realized how close John’s face and his were. _I could totally kiss him right now._ Dave closed his eyes and chased that thought out of his head. _I shouldn’t. He’s straight. And I don’t want to ruin our friendship_. Dave opened his eyes and smiled when he saw that John had fallen asleep. He picked up John and carried him out of the bathroom.

When they got back to their room Dave put John back in his bed and pulled the blankets over him. He grinned and ruffled his hair.  _He’s so cute when he’s asleep._ Dave sighed and shook his head.  _Dammit, why do I have to fall for the straight guy?_ Dave looked down at John again. He bent down and kissed John’s cheek.

“Good-morning John,” he whispered. “Merry Christmas.”


	15. Chapter 15

“Dave wake up! It’s Christmas!” John yelled, jumping up and down on Dave’s bed. Dave sighed and opened his eyes.

“Merry Christmas Egderp. Boy, you’re energetic.” John nodded.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks again for what you did,” he whispered. Dave nodded and sat up.

“I’m always here for you. So, we’re gonna open presents?” John perked up and grinned.

“Yeah! Let’s hope Rose and Jade are awake!” He grabbed Dave’s hand and pulled him into the lounge. The tree was still fully decorated and there were all the presents under the tree. Jade walked into the lounge a few seconds after John pulled Dave in. Rose followed behind her.

“Good morning John! Merry Christmas!” Jade said excitedly. John grinned.

“Merry Christmas Jade! Come on, let’s open our presents!”

“Hold it!” Roxy poked her head in. “Bring your presents to Meenah’s team’s room! We’re all gonna open them there!” John grinned and grabbed his presents. He helped Dave get all of his and they followed Roxy upstairs. Everyone else was waiting for them when they got there with their own presents.

“Come on! Let’s open these!” Terezi said.

“Let’s take turns,” Kanaya suggested. “One person opens all their presents, then the next person.”

“That’s boring,” Latula grumbled.

“I like it!” Feferi said.

“Yeah! Let’s do that!” Nepeta said. “Kanaya, mew go first!” Kanaya smiled at her and opened her present from Rose. It was a jade scarf Rose had knitted. Kanaya smiled and put it on.

“Thank you Rose. It’s lovely.” Rose smiled and nodded. Kanaya opened her other presents. Feferi got her a water-colour painting of her.

“I painted it myself,” she said. Kanaya thanked her and opened her other presents. She got red lipstick from Terezi, a black dress from Vriska, a role-playing costume from Tavros and a bunch of other stuff. (I’m sorry, I can’t think it all up, I’ll just mention the important stuff.)

“Next! Me!” Terezi said. She opened the one from Dave first. He’d gotten her some red shades. Terezi grinned and put them on. “They’re great! I love red! These smell delicious!” Terezi next opened her other presents. Rose had knitted her a red scarf. John had gotten her cherry-flavoured candy. Karkat had gotten her a red and teal dress. Vriska had gotten her a bunch of chalk. Terezi sniffed them happily. Feferi got her a painting of her, just like she had for Kanaya.

When she finished Karkat opened his presents. Jade had gotten him a Santa hat, which Terezi made him put on. John had gotten him gushers. Dave had gotten him a CD. Terezi had gotten him a movie. Nepeta had gotten him chocolate. Gamzee just gave him a hug, which Karkat was forced to accept. Tavros got him a brown cloak, which Karkat said looked like a smaller version of his dad’s. Kanaya got him a black pullover sweater she’d knitted. Equius got him a home-made Christmas cracker that was impossible for Karkat to pull because Equius made it so that you need STRENGTH to open it. So in the end Equius did it for him. Inside was a small cat figurine. Aradia got him a drawing of one of her ghost friends. Feferi got him a painting of himself as well. Sollux got him a book called “Coding for Dummies”. Eridan got him a black scarf, which he must have bought in town at some point by skipping class. Vriska got him polish for his scythe. And Kankri got him a new scythe.

Next the other members of Karkat’s team started opening their presents. Feferi had gotten them all paintings of themselves. Roxy had given Sollux a CD with some sort of program on it. Gamzee had given Tavros a blue sweater. Jade had gotten him a plushie of some sort. Rose had knitted a new scarf for Eridan, a coat for Feferi and a hat for Nepeta with cat ears. By the time they had opened all their presents it was then John’s turn.

John grinned and opened Dave’s first. He’d gotten him a stuffed bunny. But not any bunny. THE BUNNY FROM CON AIR!!!

“Oh my god!” John exclaimed. He hugged Dave tightly. “You’re the best!” Dave laughed and patted his head.

“Thanks John.” John grinned and opened Jane’s present, still holding the bunny. She’d gotten him a bunch of cookies. John wasn’t a fan of baked goods, but he’d eat the cookies Jane made him for Christmas. After all, it was Christmas. John smiled and opened his other presents. Jade had gotten him a plant pot with a seed in it. When he asked Jade what it was she said it was a surprise for when it grew. Rose had knitted him a blue tuque. Vriska had gotten him chocolate. Feferi had painted a painting of him, like everyone else.

When John finished it was Jade’s turn. John had gotten her a new shirt that he was pleased to find out fit her. Rose had knitted her a shawl. Dave had given her an apple. Jake had gotten her a new gun. Feferi had given her a portrait. And there were gifts from some of the others, though not from Karkat.

Rose got a pink scarf knitted by Kanaya, another mystery plant from Jade, gushers from John, cat treats from Nepeta and a bottle of wine from Roxy and other presents from the others. After she finished Dave opened his presents.

John had gotten Dave…a large bottle of APPLE JUICE!

“Yes!” Dave cheered, holding up the bottle. He immediately chugged a quarter of it before Rose got him to stop and open his other presents. Rose had knitted him a red tuque that sort of matched John’s. Jade had given him a mystery plant. Terezi gave him a red jacket. Dirk had gotten him a new sword. He got other awesome presents too.

Aranea had given Jake a big thing of chocolate. Dirk had gotten him an awesome pistol. Jade got him another awesome pistol, so now he could awesomely double-wield awesome pistols. Latula had gotten Jake and his teammates soda. Jane had given all her teammates cookies. Roxy had gotten Dirk alcohol. Jake had gotten him a movie he insisted was good. Rose had knitted Roxy a purple scarf. By the time everyone had opened their presents the entire floor was covered in wrapping paper.

“Alright! Now let’s get drunk!” Roxy shouted, holding up bottles of vodka she’d brought. She and a bunch of the other adults started pouring some. Gamzee and Terezi both had some as well. Rose refused to have any. John sat next to Dave and watched Roxy dance on the couch. They all started eating snacks they’d brought and talking loudly. Gamzee started juggling Roxy’s vodka bottles and a bunch of people got drunk. They were all loud as they partied, danced and had a great time.

By the time it was morning most people were collapsed from hangovers. Jane was lying on top of Roxy and they were both sound asleep. Jake and Dirk were lying next to each other and Dave smirked when he saw that. John grinned and they collected their presents and followed Jade and Rose back to their room.

“Hey, what’s this?” Jade said when they got there. There was a present under the tree that hadn’t been there before. Jade picked it up and looked at the tag. “It’s for me!”

“Open it!” John said excitedly. Jade unwrapped it, revealing a box of Christmas chocolates. She opened it and picked up a note.

“Merry Christmas,” she read out. “Huh, there’s no name.”

“Looks like Jade’s got an admirer,” Dave said. Jade blushed and picked up the box.

“I’ll be in the dorm,” she said. Rose followed her and John and Dave went to their beds. Dave drank what was left of his apple juice and John put his stuff under his bed. They stayed up for a few hours, joking and laughing. Eventually Dave was sitting next to John and started tickling him. They would up rolling around and tickling each other until they fell of them bed.

“Ha-ha-ha! Okay, we should go to sleep,” John said, sitting up. Dave laughed and nodded. They lay down, still chuckling.

“Merry Christmas John.”

“Merry Christmas Dave.”


	16. Chapter 16

A few days later John was playing in the snow with everyone, except Meenah’s team. They were staying inside for some reason. Nepeta, Rose and Kanaya were making snow sculptures. Equius was keeping an eye on Nepeta. Eridan and Feferi were making a snow-fort. Aradia was talking to some ghosts. Tavros was with Gamzee, making snow-angels. John was having a free-for-all snowball fight with everyone else. 

Dave and Dirk were flash-stepping everywhere and were impossible to hit. Jade and Jake had great aim and were teamed up and taking out a lot of them. Terezi was having a harder time dodging because all the snow smelled white and she couldn’t tell when one was heading for her. Vriska was teamed up with her and would tell her when to duck. They made a good team. Karkat was sort of on his own, but at the same time Terezi and Vriska would sometimes help him, or he’d briefly team up with Jade and Jake. Jane was teamed up with Roxy, while John was sort of sometimes with Karkat, other times with Dave.

“Gotcha Egderp!” Dave yelled. John got a bunch of snow shoved down his coat. He spun around and shoved some snow down Dave’s coat. They started wrestling and rolling in the snow. They kept shoving snow down each other’s coats and shirts until John called a breather.

“Oh man, I’m cold!” he said. Dave laughed and nodded. They sat up and noticed Nepeta was making a heart around them. John mouthed “I’m not gay!” to her and she just laughed.

“Come on John! We’re gonna look like we’re beaten.” Dave jumped up and pulled John to his feet. John quickly made some snowballs and they attacked Jade and Jake, who retaliated quickly.

Two hours later they were all lying in the snow, laughing.

“That was great!” Terezi said.

“Yeah!” John agreed. Vriska sat up and looked around.

“Taaaaaaaavros,” she said. “What’s that you’re holding?” John and everyone sat up to see Tavros was with Gamzee and holding a small white creature. It looked like a thin tiny bull with dragonfly wings.

“Oh, um…this is Tinkerbull,” Tavros said.

“Wait, is this the first beast you decided to tame?” Vriska asked. Tavros blushed and stared at TInkerbull. “Tavros, that’s a fairybull! They’re so weak! All they do is look cute!”

“You got a problem with Tavbro’s choice motherfucker?” Gamzee asked, putting an arm around Tavros. Tavros blushed and mumbled thanks.

“No, I’m just pointing out facts,” Vriska said.

“I think it’s adorable!” Jade said, coming up to Tavros. “Can I hold him?” Tavros handed Jade Tinkerbull and she stared at him happily. “He’s sooo cute!”

“Hey, you guys!” Everyone turned to see Rufioh come up to them. “It’s time for dinner!”

“Aw!” Terezi whined. Rufioh grinned at her, then looked surprised when he saw Tavros holding Tinkerbull.

“A fairybull?” he asked. Tavros blushed and nodded. Rufioh grinned. “That’s cute. It suits you Tavros.” he said, patting Tavros’s head. “Come on, it’s time to eat.”

“Let’s go Dave,” John said. Dave grinned and followed him.

They went back to their room first to change out of their winter coats and boots. John hung his stuff by his bed and went to dinner with Dave, Rose and Jade. Of course, they split up when they got to the two eating halls.

In the Brother Eating Hall John and Dave sat with the usual group. Tavros was showing them Tinkerbull and a lot of them liked it. John grinned when the food arrived. Since it was winter there were plenty of warm dishes. John used his wind Power to grab food that was out of his reach. He got warm chicken and some stew. While he ate he watched Tinkerbull eat a hot onion ring, first balancing it on his nose, then tossing it into the air and eating it. John, Gamzee and others clapped when he did that.

When it was time to go to bed John got up to leave. But Dave grabbed his sleeve and pointed at his goblet. John sighed quietly and picked it up. He slowly drank it all, hating how good it tasted to him. When he drank it all he showed Dave his goblet. Dave nodded in approval and they followed the others out of the Brother Eating Hall.

In their lounge John did card tricks he’d gotten for Christmas to entertain Jade, Dave and Rose. Dave applauded loudly while Jade and Rose just clapped normally. Jade got Bec to do tricks and while Bec was in the girls’ dorm Rose brought Jaspers out and they all played with him.

After awhile Nepeta showed up.

“Tomorrow’s New-Year’s Eve!” she said. “So come to our room beclaws Meulin and I are planning fun events!”

“We’ll be there Nepeta,” Rose said. “I promise.” Nepeta grinned and hugged Rose.

“Thank mew!” she said before running out. John grinned. _I wonder what we’re going to do?_

When John went to bed he wasn’t tired. He was too excited!

“Hey John?” Dave said.

“What?”

“………Uh, never mind.”

“Um, what?” John said. “You okay Dave?”

“Yeah, of course,” Dave said. “You’re probably too excited to sleep, huh?” John grinned.

“Of course! I can’t wait to see what activities Meulin and Nepeta thought up!”

“Knowing them, I have a guess,” Dave said.

“Really? What?”

“I’ll tell you when we find out.” John grinned and nodded.

“Good-morning.” he said.

“Good-morning. Try to get some sleep Egderp.” John grinned.

“I’ll try.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Okay efuryone! We’re gonna play spin-the-faygo!” Nepeta announced. Everyone stopped and stared at her.

“What?!” most of the room exclaimed. Nepeta and Meulin nodded and laughed.

“And if mew don’t, Gamzee will dump the faygo on mewr head.” Nepeta pointed to Gamzee, who was holding a bottle of red faygo. Most people groaned but they all sat in a large circle. John sat in between Jade and Jane. _I hope I don’t get a guy. Or Vriska._ _That would be so awkward._

“I’ll go first!” Terezi declared. Gamzee handed her the faygo bottle and she spun it around. After spinning for a few seconds in stopped.

And pointed at Vriska.

“Yes!” Nepeta said. Terezi sniffed the bottle and sniffed in the direction it went, crawling forward until she was half on Vriska’s lap.

“This smells like Vriska.” she said.

“That’s because it _is_ me,” Vriska said. Terezi blinked in surprise, then shrugged and kissed Vriska, earning cheers and laughs. Then she grinned and sat back down.

“Sollux next!” Nepeta said. Sollux sighed and spun the faygo. It spun for longer before it stopped.

And pointed at Vriska. Again.

“What?!” Sollux and Vriska exclaimed. Nepeta began chanting “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” and Sollux groaned. He closed his eyes and quickly kissed Vriska, who had also closed her eyes. Then he sat back down and crossed his arms.

“Okay, now Aranea!” Aranea grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Jake.

Aranea grinned and grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Nepeta cheered for the whole five seconds she kissed him. Jake was blushing furiously when she stopped and a bunch of people were cheering. She winked at him and sat back down.

“Now Damara!” Nepeta said. Damara sighed and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Horrus.

There was some awkward silence for awhile. Eventually Damara said something in Japanese and quickly kissed Horrus. Then she wiped her mouth with a tissue several times. Horrus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Okay, um…Kankri!” Kankri muttered about triggers and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Latula.

Kankri blushed and mumbled something. Latula looked a bit awkward too. John wondered why. After some coaxing from Meulin and threatening from Meenah Kankri kissed Latula, then sat back down.

“Next, Kanaya!” Kanaya took the faygo and spun it.

It pointed at Eridan.

Kanaya and Eridan protested loudly, while Terezi and Vriska laughed. It seemed Kanaya and Eridan really didn’t like each other much. In the end Gamzee dumped the faygo on Kanaya and got a new bottle, which he put in the middle.

“Okay, Rose!” Nepeta said. Rose took the bottle of faygo and spun it.

It pointed at Kanaya.

Rose looked at her in surprise. Then she leaned forward and kissed her. Kanaya hugged her as she did and they kissed for almost ten seconds before Terezi got them to stop so they could keep playing.

“Okay, Feferi.” Feferi smiled nervously and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Equius.

Feferi stared at him in surprise. She awkwardly bent forward and kissed him quickly before sitting back down. Equius seemed to find it awkward as well.

“Okay, now Meenah!” Nepeta said. Meenah sighed and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Jade.

There was a long moment of awkward silence. Then Meenah sighed and kissed Jade, then sat back down. Jade seemed to find it rather awkward. She turned away from Meenah and instead focused on Nepeta.

“Now Roxy!” Roxy grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Karkat.

Roxy stared at Karkat for a few seconds before shrugging and saying “Welp, he’s hot” and kissing him. She grinned and sat back down.

“Now Rufioh!” Nepeta said. Rufioh spun the faygo.

It pointed at Horrus.

Almost everyone cheered and Rufioh leaned forward and kissed Horrus. It lasted about as long as Rose and Kanaya’s before Terezi stopped them.

“Now Meulin!” Meulin grinned and spun the faygo vigorously.

It pointed at Damara.

Meulin looked totally startled. After a few seconds she walked over and kissed Damara quickly, then sat back down next to Kurloz.

“Uh…now Aradia!” Aradia smiled and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Gamzee.

Aradia stared at him for a few seconds. Then she sighed and kissed him, then sat back down next to Equius, who was sitting next to Nepeta.

“Now…Cronus!” Cronus smirked and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Kankri.

The room erupted in cheers. Cronus grabbed Kankri and put him on his lap. With an arm around his waist, he kissed Kankri, who flailed and blushed madly. Their kiss lasted the longest and Terezi didn’t interrupt them. When Cronus stopped and smirked at Kankri, who didn’t stop blushing. He put his arm around his shoulders and kept Kankri on his lap.

“Okay, wvho’s next?” he asked.

“Karkitty!” Nepeta announced. John watched Karkat sigh and spin the faygo.

It pointed at Nepeta.

Nepeta’s whole face went red and she started mumbling something. Meulin clapped loudly and Karkat just looked awkward.

“Uh, I don’t have to if you don’t want me to,” he said.

“Um, no. I-I don’t want you to get faygo on yourself, or…” Karkat sighed and nodded. He sat in front of Nepeta and kissed her.

“OTP!” Meulin shouted, showering them with confetti. Karkat rolled his eyes and sat back down while Nepeta was still blushing.

“U-um, okay. Next…um…Dave!” Dave grabbed the faygo and spun it.

It pointed at Meulin.

“What the heck?” Dave said. Meulin shrugged. Dave sighed and kissed her lightly, then quickly sat back down.

“Okay, now Dirk!” Nepeta said. Dirk seemed to silently pray, then spun the faygo.

It pointed at Jane. Who was sitting next to Jake.

Dirk sighed and kissed Jane. He then sat back down and looked at Nepeta, clearly waiting for her to continue.

“Okay, next: Tavros!” Tavros mumbled nervously and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Sollux.

Tavros looked rather surprised. After some coaxing from Nepeta and Meulin Gamzee held him up and he kissed Sollux quickly, then sat back down next to Gamzee.

“Now Horrus!” Horrus grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Roxy.

Horrus looked surprised to say the least. Roxy shrugged and crossed her arms.

“I’m waiting.” she said. Horrus mumbled something to Rufioh and leaned forward and kissed her. Then he sat back down and Roxy giggled.

“Okay, now Kurloz!” Kurloz grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed to Mituna.

Kurloz shrugged and kissed Mituna. A few people cheered and Mituna blushed. Kurloz grinned and sat back down next to Meulin.

“Okay, now Jane!” Jane sighed and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Dave.

Jane stared at him in surprise. After an awkward moment she kissed him then quickly sat back down. John could tell Dave found that really awkward. For some reason Jane kissing Dave annoyed him.  _Maybe it’s because she’s like my older sister sometimes and he’s my best bro? Yeah, that’s it._

“Okay, now Vriska!” Vriska grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed at John.

Vriska grinned and grabbed John before he could react and kissed him. John tensed up for two seconds before his wind Power kicked in and knocked Vriska back.

“Oops! Sorry!” John said. Vriska sat up and shook her head.

“Don’t worry John. I expected that.”

“Next: Porrim!” Porrim smiled and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Aranea.

Porrim grinned and kissed Aranea. After a few seconds Aranea made her stop. Porrim smiled and sat down.

“Okay, now Jade!” Jade sighed and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Dirk.

There was a very long awkward silence. After awhile Jade shook her head.

“I’m not going to,” she said. Gamzee picked up the bottle of faygo and dumped it on her. Then he grabbed another one and put it in the middle.

“Okay, now Gamzee!” Gamzee smiled and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Tavros.

Nepeta and Meulin cheered and Tavros blushed. Gamzee bent down and pulled Tavros into a hug and kissed him. Terezi and Vriska cheered too and after a few seconds Gamzee stopped and grinned at Tavros, who just nodded.

“That was great! Now…Equius!” Equius nodded and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Nepeta.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Nepeta looked totally taken aback, as did Equius. After a moment Equius bent down and kissed Nepeta.

“O-okay. Now, um…Eridan!” Eridan sighed nervously and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Feferi.

John had never seen Eridan blush so much. After some coaxing from Nepeta and Meulin he leaned forward and kissed Feferi. Both he and Feferi were blushing a lot and smiled to each other.

“Purrfect! Now Latula!” Latula grinned and spun the faygo.

It pointed to Kurloz.

At first Latula and Kurloz stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Latula sighed and kissed Kurloz. Then she sat down and looked at Nepeta.

“Now Mituna!” Mituna smiled nervously and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Terezi.

After some awkward silence Mituna sighed and kissed Terezi, then sat back down. He and Latula looked like they found that a bit awkward.

“And now Jake!” Jake gulped and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Meenah.

“No!” Meenah exclaimed. Jake agreed with her and Gamzee dumped faygo on him. Then he got another bottle and put it in the middle.

“Now…John!” John gulped and grabbed the bottle of faygo. _I hope it’s not a guy. Or Vriska._ He took a deep breath and spun the faygo.

It pointed at Dave.

“What?!” John exclaimed.

“Yes!” Nepeta cheered.

“NO! I’m not gay!” John said.

“Uh, this is my last bottle of faygo Johnbro.” Gamzee said. “You can’t skip out on this.” John groaned and stared at Dave. _Are you serous?!_

“Come on John!” Terezi said. “Kiss Dave already!”

“Kiss Dave!” Nepeta said. “Kiss Dave! Kiss Dave!” John groaned and shook his head. Dave sat in front of him and moved his head so their faces were inches apart.

“Just lean forward John.” he said. John could feel himself blushing terribly. He sighed and closed his eyes and kissed Dave.

Something about doing that made him feel…weird. He couldn’t figure out what kind of feeling it was and he stopped quickly, blushing. Nepeta and Meulin cheered while Terezi clapped loudly.

“And finally, me!” Nepeta said. She grabbed the bottle of faygo and spun it.

It pointed at Aradia.

Nepeta stared at her in surprise. Then took a deep breath and kissed her, then sat back down.

“Thank goodness we’re done.” John said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Okay!” Nepeta said. “Next, we’re playing seven-minutes-in-heaven!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I fucking did that.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I have never played seven minutes in heaven. So if I got the rules a bit wrong, it's not my fault. Enjoy the chapter. :)

“WHAT?!” everyone yelled. Nepeta and Meulin laughed at their reactions.

“There’s even a closet in this room!” Nepeta drew back a curtain to reveal a closet in the wall John had never noticed before. It looked like the closet was big enough to lie down and roll around in it. _She chose this one on purpose. Jeez, Nepeta!_ “And it’s sound-purroof!” Nepeta grinned.

“What? So you could bang someone and no one would know until they opened the closet?” Dave said. John burst into laughter and Jade punched Dave.

“Dave! What the heck?!” she yelled. Terezi, Latula and Vriska were laughing too. Dave grinned and apologized to Jade.

“That wasn’t my intention, but yeah. Mew could,” Nepeta said. Meulin picked up Latula’s large bag which was one of those kinds that are for carrying hockey gear and stuff. “Half of mew will put items in here.” Nepeta said. Meulin split everyone in two groups and had one group put stuff in.

After thinking for awhile John put his glasses in. So did Jade. Dave and Rose helped them find their way back to where they’d been sitting, since neither of them could see well without their glasses. Rose listed the things people were putting in. Sollux, Jake, Jane, Aranea and Vriska all put their glasses in. Meulin put in her shipping notebook while Nepeta put in her cat-hat. Porrim put her lipstick in, Feferi put her goggles in, Equius put his cracked shades in and Rose put her headband in. Damara put one of the chopsticks in her hair in, Latula put her red shades in and Gamzee put a horn in.

“Okay!” Nepeta said, holding the bag. “Mew must take out the first item mew touch, or Terezi will lick mewr face.” Terezi grinned and cackled. “And Terezi will lock mew both in the closet when mew’re in there for seven minutes. Okay?” Some people grumbled and some others nodded. John was just hoping he wouldn’t get someone awkward. “Okay! Who’s first?”

“Me!” Roxy declared, reaching in. She pulled her hand out holding…

Jane’s glasses.

“Okay! Jane and Roxy! In the closet!” Terezi yelled. She and Latula grabbed them both and shoved them in there. Then Terezi locked the closet and started a timer.

“What is the chance of them becoming a couple?” John asked Rose.

“Hmm…I’d say about a 90% chance.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Rose nodded.

“ _You_ don’t see them during mealtimes. They exchange their food and talk a lot. Roxy once told Jane she was acting like a mom.”

“Oh. Huh. I never really thought of Jane being into girls.”

“Well, there’s still a 10% chance they’re just friends.”

“Yeah, 10%. That’s not much.” Rose smiled and shrugged.

“We’ll know in six minutes.”

John spent the six minutes staring at the closet doors because he couldn’t see the timer without his glasses. Every once in awhile he asked Dave how much time was left. Eventually John just counted in his head. When seven minutes were up Terezi thrust the doors open and yelled “Boo!”

Jane and Roxy were holding hands and kissing. Jane looked totally embarrassed when Terezi and nearly everyone else cheered. Roxy, on the other hand, looked thrilled and carried Jane out of the closet bridal-style, laughing.

“Who’s next?” Nepeta asked. Meenah went forward and reached into the bag.

She pulled out Aranea’s glasses.

Latula and Terezi grabbed them and shoved them in the closet. Terezi locked it and started the timer. Vriska and Feferi joked about how weird that shipping was while Nepeta told them the reasons it was actually a good shipping. 

After seven minutes Terezi opened the closet suddenly, revealing Aranea and Meenah yelling at each other.

“You’re so mean! Don’t say a lie like that!” Aranea shouted.

“I’m not lying! I’m sorry, but it’s true!” Aranea shoved her and tried to run out of the room. But Vriska grabbed her arm and took her to a corner and whispered to her. Meenah looked like she regretted whatever she did. She sat down next to Feferi and they whispered to each other.

“Okay, um next?” Nepeta said. Dirk decided to go. He reached into the bag.

And pulled out Jake’s glasses.

Dirk picked Jake up bridal-style and carried him into the closet. Terezi locked the doors and started the timer, while Nepeta and Meulin fangirled.

“Dirk’s ecstatic,” Dave said.

“Really?” John asked.

“You can tell?” Jade asked.

“I’ve lived with him my whole life, of course I can tell what emotions he’s feeling.”

“I think I can guess what Mheena and Aranea were arguing about.” Rose said, pointing at Aranea. She was crying and glaring at the closet while Vriska tired to comfort her. Jade got up and went to talk to her but Aranea just got mad and yelled at her. Jade sighed and sat back down. “She’ll be okay.” Rose said. Jade nodded and looked at the timer, though of course she couldn’t see it.

“How much longer?” John asked.

“Six-and-a-half-minutes,” Dave said.

When the seven minutes were up Terezi opened the doors and yelled “Okay you cuties!” She burst into laughter when she saw Jake and Dirk. Dirk had Jake up against the wall and Jake was sort of sitting on his lap and they had their arms around each other and were kissing. Jake blushed furiously while Dirk just carried him bridal-style out of the closet. Nepeta and Meulin cheered and threw confetti. Jade grinned at Jake and Dave wiggled his eyebrows.

Aranea stormed out of the room, slamming the door. Jake looked confused and John guessed Dirk was feeling triumphant. Vriska got up to follow her, then stopped and sat back down with everyone.

“Okay, next!” Nepeta said quickly. “Dave!” John watched Dave go up to the bag and pull something out, but he couldn’t see what it was. Terezi, Nepeta, Meulin and others all cheered.

“What did he get?” John asked Rose.

“Your glasses,” she said. John felt himself blush and Dave put his glasses on his face.

“Wait, wait! Hold on!” John yelled loudly. Terezi grabbed him and Dave and shoved them in the closet. “No! Jane!” Jane giggled and shook her head. Then the closet doors closed shut and John heard Terezi lock it. “Jane totally abandoned me!” John groaned and stared at the ground. “You didn’t do anything to stop them either Dave.”

“Oh, uh…yeah.” Dave scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “Um, that’s ‘cause…”

“What?” John was confused now. “Why are you acting so weird?” Dave pursed his lips and seemed to be thinking. He looked at John and took a deep breath. Then he pulled him forward and kissed him.

John got that same feeling in him as he did when he kissed Dave during spin-the-faygo. But this time he realized the feeling didn’t feel like a bad thing. Dave stopped kissing him and sighed.

“Um, I just wanted you to know about that and…yeah.” he said. “Uh, I know you’re straight, so that wouldn’t work out. And I don’t want to ruin our friendship, but…I just wanted you to know about that.”

“Oh,” John said. There was a few seconds of awkward silence before John kept talking. “Um, you know when Vriska kissed me?” Dave nodded slowly like he was reluctant for John to continue. “Well, when she did it felt really weird to me and uh, wrong? But when I kissed you during spin-the-faygo it didn’t feel like that. And just now it actually felt okay and OH MY GOD I THINK I’M GAY!”

Dave stared at him in surprise at first. Then he grinned and kissed him again. John felt himself blush and hugged Dave.  _Oh my god. Oh my god. This is probably the weirdest way to find out you’re gay. Oh my god. I’m homo for Dave! What the heck?! Oh my god!_ Dave kissed John again and while he was doing that John took his shades off. Because he could see perfect in the dark as a Vampire, he could see Dave’s bright red eyes clear as day.

“Whoa,” he said. Dave nodded and put the shades back on.

“Yeah. That’s a better reaction than I was expecting.”

“How else would I react? They’re cool!” Dave smiled and kissed him.

“Thanks John.” John grinned and kissed Dave. They stayed in the same position, hugging and kissing for awhile.

“Okay you perfect couple!” Terezi yelled, opening the doors. She collapsed in laughter when she saw them and John felt his face go completely red. Dirk was smirking at them and Jane was grinning. Rose and Jade were clapping and Nepeta and Meulin were cheering loudly and throwing confetti. Dave grabbed John’s hand and they walked out and sat back down. John was still blushing and Dirk whispered something to Dave that made him punch his arm.

“Congrats you two!” Jade said, grinning. John smiled, embarrassed. Rose smiled at them, still clapping politely.

“Okay! Who’s next?!” Nepeta said.

KARKAT’S POV:

Kurloz went up and pulled Meulin’s shipping notebook out. Terezi and Latula didn’t even have to make them go in the closet, but Terezi still locked it. Karkat sighed and looked around the room. Aranea still hadn’t come back. Pretty much everyone (except Jake) knew why she was upset.

When Terezi opened the closet doors seven minutes later Meulin was on Kurloz’s lap and kissing him. She had some of his face-paint on her face and she smiled like she was embarrassed. Nepeta cheered the loudest and signed something to Meulin.

After that Eridan went. Karkat could see him crossing his fingers as he reached into the bag.

He pulled out Sollux’s glasses.

He and Sollux erupted in protests while Terezi and Latula wrestled them into the closet and locked the doors. Terezi cackled and started the timer. And everyone saw she set it to eight minutes, not seven. Nepeta and Meulin were cheering and signing quickly to each other.  _As long as they don’t start to fight each other. I’m pretty sure there’s enough room in that closet for a fight to start._

“They’re being so quiet,” Terezi whispered. She seemed disappointed.

“The closet’s sound-proof, remember?” Feferi said.

“Yeah, but not to someone hitting the wall or kicking it,” Nepeta said.

“Isn’t it good if they’re quiet?” Karkat asked. “Because then they’re not killing each other?”

“I’m hoping for something juicy,” Terezi said. Karkat sighed and rolled his eyes. _Like you’re gonna get that with Eridan and Sollux._

“Don’t get your hopes up Terezi,” he said. Terezi stuck her tongue out at him and looked back at the timer. When eight minutes were up she grinned.

“Okay, you-” She froze when she opened the door. Sollux had Eridan pressed up against the wall and was sitting on his lap. And they were kissing. Terezi shut the closet doors for a few seconds, then opened them again. Eridan and Sollux looked a bit awkward and Terezi burst into laughter. Vriska, John and some others laughed too and Nepeta and Meulin cheered. Karkat was at loss for words and Eridan tried to leave the room. But Cronus made him stay by putting him in a choke hold. Feferi was staring at Eridan with an expression that was a mix of shock and disappointment. Sollux just sat next to Mituna, looking embarrassed.

“I’m totally fine wvith being related to Mituna in a fewv years.” Cronus said. “Right Kankri?” Kankri, who was still on Cronus’s lap, blushed and started ranting about how triggering that was.

“Cronus, are you going to let Kankri go?” Karkat asked. Cronus smirked and shook his head.

“Nah. He’s not complaining.” Karkat sighed and looked back at Nepeta.

“Okay, next! Kanaya!” Nepeta said. Kanaya got up and reached into the bag.

She pulled out Vriska’s glasses.

While Terezi and Latula shoved them into the closet Karkat noticed Kanaya’s expression. She seemed to find the situation awkward, like there was a reason it was embarrassing. _Well, I know they never dated. But Nepeta once said that Kanaya seemed to like Vriska. I wonder if she still does._ Terezi locked the doors and started the timer. Karkat glanced at Rose and saw that she seemed a bit upset. _No surprise there, they obviously like each other._ Karkat sighed and stared at the timer.

When seven minutes were up and Terezi opened the doors Kanaya and Vriska were sitting apart from each other. Vriska was tossing a coin up and down and Kanaya was reapplying her lipstick. They walked out calmly and sat back down. Terezi seemed disappointed, as well as Nepeta and Meulin.

“Who’s next?” Nepeta asked. “Tavros, mew go!” Tavros blushed and reached into the bag.

He pulled out Nepeta’s hat.

There was a moment of silence before Terezi and Latula grabbed them and shoved them in the closet. Terezi grinned and set the timer. Karkat noticed Gamzee seemed disappointed.  _They’re both so obvious. Why aren’t they together yet?_

After seven minutes Terezi opened the closet doors and found Nepeta and Tavros role-playing.

“AC tosses ball of yarn into the air-” Nepeta and Tavros stopped when they noticed Terezi had opened the door.

“Oh come on! You two were just role-playing?!” Terezi exclaimed.

“Of course.” Nepeta said. “Tavros likes boys.” She stepped out and sat back down. Gamzee picked Tavros up and carried him back to where they were sitting. “Okay, who’s next?”

“Karkat!” Terezi said, pointing at Karkat. He sighed and reached into the bag.

He pulled out Jade’s glasses.

He felt himself blush and Terezi and Latula grabbed him and Jade and shoved them in the closet. Karkat heard Terezi lock the doors, cackling. He sighed and looked at Jade, who was sitting next to him.

She was wearing a sleeveless dress that was black with stars all over it so it looked like she was wearing the night sky. She’d lost her shoes when Latula had shoved her in the closet and her hair had come out of the ponytail she’d put it in and was now hanging down her back. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and was blushing and staring at the ground. She seemed to find things like this a bit awkward. Her bright green eyes looked even bigger through her glasses and Kanaya had put mascara on her. Karkat could only stare at her. Her skin looked so pale in comparison to the dress and her black hair, but that made her look even prettier. Karkat reached forward and pulled Jade towards him and kissed her. He felt her jump in surprise. He stroked her hair and laid his head on her shoulder.

“I, uh, I was the one who got you the chocolates at Christmas.” he said.

“Oh,” Jade squeaked. He lifted his head and looked her in the eye. Jade blushed and stared at the ground. Karkat kissed her again and Jade wrapped her arms around him lightly so they barely touched him. Karkat stroked her hair as he kissed her and after awhile she hugged him tighter. Karkat smiled and rested his head on her shoulder again. Karkat stared at her neck and his mouth was filled with the familiar taste of her blood. It was so sweet and pure, like the first flower of spring. Karkat sniffed and could smell the blood running through her. Karkat had never drunk another Vampire’s blood. Terezi had offered to let him drink hers but he’d turned her down. But with Jade so close to him he felt far too tempted.

Karkat opened his mouth and bit her neck. He felt Jade tense and grip his shirt. Her blood was sweet, just like the first time. But now it had another flavour in it. The taste of a Vampire’s blood. The taste wasn’t bad, Karkat actually liked how it went with the sweet taste of Jade’s blood.

“H-have you done this before?” Jade asked. Karkat froze. _Oh shit._ “U-um, it’s just…it feels familiar when-when you drink my blood. I-I don’t know why…” Karkat lifted his head up and looked Jade in the eye.

“You, uh, you got turned into a Vampire by being bitten. It’s probably just reminding you of that.” Jade nodded and Karkat leaned forward and kissed her. Then he bent down and licked the cut away from Jade’s neck. Jade bent down and lightly kissed him. He combed his hands through her hair and kissed her back.

“Okay you lovebirds!” Terezi yelled, opening the closet doors. She laughed and cheered when she saw them and Karkat felt himself blush. Jake, John and Kankri all had around the same look: I did _not_ see that coming. Karkat sighed and he and Jade stepped out. Karkat sat next to Sollux, who had gotten over the thing with Eridan and was now smirking at him. Jade sat next to Jake and John, blushing. Kankri started talking to Karkat about how that must have been very triggering and does he now have new triggers and does Jade have any he should know about and blah, blah, blah.

“Okay, now Terezi!” Nepeta said. Terezi smiled and reached into the bag.

She pulled out Gamzee’s horn.

“No!” she and Gamzee exclaimed.

“Why not?” Roxy asked. “That looks cute.”

“Gamzee’s gay.” Terezi said. “And…I don’t want to.” Karkat bit his lip. _Yeah, they better not. Gamzee’s supposedly over the addiction, but he hasn’t drunk her blood in awhile and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing started up again._

“Okay, let’s go to the next one!” Nepeta said quickly. “Rufioh! Mew go!” Rufioh nodded and reached in the bag.

He pulled out Damara’s chopstick.

_Oh, nice one._ There was a long moment of awkward silence. Damara and Rufioh just stared at each other.  _Yeah, you wind up with your ex in seven-minutes-in-heaven. Perfect._

“Um, we can skip that,” Nepeta said.

“Why? We already skipped Terezi and Gamzee,” Roxy said. “Let’s put them in there!” She grabbed Damara and Rufioh and shoved them in the closet. _Oh jeez, she got drunk._ She locked the doors and laughed, holding up the key.

“Roxy! Give me the key!” Terezi exclaimed. Roxy held it out of her reach, still laughing.

“Nuh-uh. You’ll open the closet!” Terezi and Latula tackled her and after about four minutes they got the key from her. Terezi opened the doors immediately. Damara and Rufioh seemed to have been talking. They stopped once Terezi opened the doors and immediately sat back down. Latula and Terezi apologized about Roxy to them and they just nodded. _This is falling apart._

“Uh…okay. Horrus! Mew go!” Nepeta said. Horrus nodded and reached into the bag.

He pulled out Rose’s headband.

“Ooh! Horrus has a thing for Lalonde chicks!” Roxy said, laughing. Terezi and Vriska laughed too and Rose looked surprised. Terezi and Latula grabbed them and shoved them in the closet and Terezi locked the doors.

During the seven minutes Nepeta and Meulin discussed whether Rose and Horrus could work as a shipping.  _Of course, Horrus is dating Rufioh, so that’s not gonna happen._ But that fact didn’t seem to deter Nepeta and Meulin from at least considering the shipping.

“Okay you two!” Terezi said, opening the doors.

“Do you have a seven?” Horrus was saying.

“Go fish,” Rose answered.

“What the heck?!” Terezi exclaimed. “You’re just playing cards?!” Rose and Horrus both looked at her.

“Of course,” they both said at once. Terezi sighed and they walked out. They sat down and continued their card game while Nepeta kept their game going.

“Now Aradia!” Nepeta said. Aradia smiled and reached into the bag.

She pulled out Equius’s shades.

Nepeta and Meulin cheered and Terezi and Latula shoved them in the closet. Terezi locked the door and Nepeta started going on about how happy she was.  _Yeah, everyone knows Equius likes Aradia. It was pretty obvious._

“It’s so purrfect!” Nepeta said happily. Meulin nodded and signed to her. Karkat just sighed and waited for them to get out. He would occasionally glance at Jade but stopped when Jake noticed.

“Here’s the couple!” Terezi yelled, opening the closet doors. Equius and Aradia were holding hands and Aradia was leaning against Equius’s shoulder. Nepeta and Meulin cheered and threw confetti on them. _Where are they getting all the confetti?!_ Equius and Aradia stepped out and sat next to Nepeta, who handed Equius a towel.

“Okay, now Cronus!” Nepeta said. Cronus smirked and reached into the bag.

He pulled out Feferi’s goggles.

“Cronus, if you do anything I’ll kill you!” Mheena and Eridan both yelled.

“So I should just sit in there?” Cronus asked.

“Yeah!” He shrugged.

“Wvhatevwer. I’m gay anywvay.” He sat down in the closet and Feferi was put next to him. Then Terezi locked the door and set the timer. For awhile it was quiet. “100 bottles of beer on the wvall! 100 bottles of beer!” Yeah, Cronus started singing that. Loudly, at the top of his lungs.

“I thought you said the closet was sound-proof!” Vriska exclaimed.

“Um, mostly sound-purroof,” Nepeta said, covering her sensitive ears.

Seven minutes later Cronus was down to seventy-two bottles of beer on the wall. Terezi opened the doors and yelled “You can stop singing now!” Cronus shrugged and stepped out. Feferi uncovered her ears and sat next to Mheena.

“Okay, now Kankri!” Nepeta said. Kankri muttered about triggers and reached into the bag.

He pulled out Porrim’s lipstick.

Terezi, Latula and Vriska all laughed and shoved them into the closet. Karkat sighed as Terezi locked the doors and started the timer.  _It’s obvious she has a thing for Kankri. I hope he’ll be alright._

When Terezi opened the closet doors Kankri was holding Porrim away with his hands and feet. He scrambled out of the closet and sat back next to Cronus. Porrim scowled at him and sat back down.

“Last one! Mituna!” Nepeta announced. Mituna reached in and pulled out the only item left:

Latula’s red shades.

Terezi, Nepeta and Meulin cheered and Latula and Mituna walked into the closet. Terezi locked the doors and set the timer. Latula and Mituna were already dating, so it was pretty much perfect that they got to go in there together. Karkat watched the timer tick down for seven minutes. Then Terezi opened the closet. Latula and Mituna were kissing and hugging. Terezi, Nepeta and Meulin cheered and Nepeta and Meulin threw more confetti.  _They are so cleaning that up, this was all their fucking idea!_

“Now let’s get drunk!” Roxy yelled, holding up some vodka. Everyone wound up having a glass (except Nepeta because Equius wouldn’t let her) and Roxy got everyone to do a toast. “Don’t forget to make a bunch of shtupid resolushins!” she said, slurring. _Yeah, she’s so drunk._ Everyone drank their cup of alcohol, then a bunch of them got more and started partying. Karkat tried to go talk to Jade but Terezi kept trying to get him to drink and Kankri kept bugging him. Gamzee started juggling again and John and Jade did tricks with their powers. Vriska and Mheena left to go find Aranea.

At some point someone got Karkat drunk. He wasn’t really sure what was going on but everyone started dancing. He was pretty sure he was dancing with Jade and he grinned. He was having a great time!

After a few hours Karkat and everyone else just got either so drunk or so tired they collapsed where they were and passed out or fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Everyone slept through the next night. But that was fine because it was a night off with no classes. John woke up lying next to Dave on the floor. Everyone else was on the floor and just waking up. Karkat was lying with Jade and Rose with Kanaya. Roxy was with Jane and Dirk was (obviously) with Jake. Aranea, Vriska and Mheena weren’t there. They obviously hadn’t returned. John stood up, waking Dave up. Everyone else was starting to get up. John wobbled a bit on his feet and Dave caught him. He grinned at him and they went back to their room.

It was about midday so John lay in bed to get some more sleep. Dave lay in his bed and John noticed he still didn’t take his shades off.  _Doesn’t he ever worry they’ll break?_ John sighed and closed his eyes.

KARKAT’S POV:

“Nepeta, Meulin, you two are cleaning up all your shitty confetti,” Karkat said. Nepeta whined and Meulin pouted but they grabbed a broom and started cleaning up. Karkat had Roxy clean up the alcohol bottles and cups. Jane helped her with that. Everyone else just helped put the furniture back. Then everyone went to their rooms to get some sleep. Karkat sighed and lay down in bed. _Well…that was fun, I guess._

“Hey, Karbro?” Gamzee said.

“What?”

“Go talk to Nepeta.” Karkat frowned.

“Huh? Why?”

“She’s upset.”

“So? Meulin can talk to her.”

“She’s upset about you Karbro.” Now Karkat was really confused.

“What? What is she upset about?”

“You and Jade.”

“But she likes that shipping! She did a drawing of it!” Gamzee sighed.

“Yeah, and she did another one. Remember she said she shipped you with pretty much every motherfucker?”

“Yeah.” Gamzee stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed loudly.

“Okay, clearly I’ve gotta spell it out for you Karbro.”

“Spell what out?!”

“Nepeta likes you.” Karkat froze.

“Wait, what?!”

“You never notithed?” Sollux said.

“No! How many people knew?!”

“I think about everyone had guethed it.”

“Oh.”

“Go talk to her Karbro.”

“…Okay. Where is she?”

“Probably in the dorm.”

“Then how am I supposed to talk to her?”

“Just knock on the door and ask to speak to Nepeta.”

“…Fine.” Karkat got up and walked out of the dorm. He walked up to the door to the girls’ dorm and knocked. After a few seconds Kanaya opened the door.

“Oh, do mew need something?” she asked.

“Uh, is Nepeta awake?” Kanaya got a look in her eye like she understood and walked off. After a few seconds she returned with Nepeta, who looked like she wanted to run. She gently pushed Nepeta out of the dorm and shut the door. Karkat stood there, feeling awkward while Nepeta was staring at the ground and not talking.

“I’m not mad,” Nepeta said. Karkat stopped.

“What?”

“I’m…I’m okay with it. I mean, I did a shipping drawing fur mew two, so…”

“Yeah, and everyone else is pretty sure you like me.” Nepeta blushed and nodded. “Sorry for being an idiot because I actually didn’t notice.” Nepeta giggled.

“I know. I could tell.” Nepeta smiled at him. “Don’t worry Karkitty. I’m fine. I’m sure you and Jade are purrfect fur each other.”

“Yeah.” Nepeta smiled again and opened the door.

“You should go to sleep Karkitty,” she said before shutting the door. Karkat sighed with relief. _Well, that wasn’t so hard at all._ Karkat walked back into the boys’ dorm and lay down.

“What did Nepeta say?” Gamzee asked.

“She said she’s fine.”

“You sure she is?”

“Of course. She said she is, and she smiled.” Gamzee sighed.

“Karbro, how is it I know more about girls than you and I’m gay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind.”

JADE’S POV:

Jade couldn’t sleep. So she got up and went to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and looked in the mirror. Her makeup was a mess and her hair needed to be brushed. She had bags under her eyes and her lips were dry and cracking.  _Wow, I look like shit._ Jade sighed and turned to leave. Then she noticed Aranea in the corner. She was curled up in a ball and staring at her feet. She looked like she’d been crying, but she wasn’t at the moment. Jade hesitated before walking up to her.

“Aranea?” she said. Aranea looked up at her and glared.

“Go away. I don’t want to talk to you,” she said.

“Didn’t Vriska and Meenah talk to you?” Aranea nodded.

“I made them leave. Go away.” Jade opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She sighed and walked back to her room. When she got to bed she found that she was really tired suddenly. She sighed and closed her eyes. _I guess becoming a Vampire wasn’t such a bad thing after all._


	20. Chapter 20

The next few weeks were pretty normal. The only new things were the sudden relationships. Dolorosa didn’t seem to mind that Kanaya was dating Rose, but Kanaya claimed she wouldn’t care if she dated a teacher. Dave thought she was being a bit harsh.

Dave and John’s relationship went great. Dave would sometimes have to make John drink the blood they served at dinner but he usually drank it. Once John woke up screaming and crying. He said he’d dreamt of what happened to his dad.

“I-I thought the nightmares had stopped…” he said. Dave hugged him and stroked his hair.

“Nightmares can’t hurt you John. They’re only dreams.”

“They still hurt Dave. Not physically; mentally.”

So Dave got Rose to talk to John about the nightmares. It seemed to help and Dave was relieved. Then at some point he noticed something seemed to be bothering Jade. One day when Dave couldn’t sleep he went to the lounge and found Jade curled up on the couch.

“You okay?” he asked. Jade jumped at the sound of his voice and nodded quickly. Dave frowned and sat next to her. “You’ve been acting a bit weird lately. Is something wrong?” Jade stared at him for a moment before sighing and nodding.

“It’s about Karkat.”

“Is he cheating on you?”

“NO! Jeez Dave!”

“Sorry. What is it?” Jade sighed and stared at her feet.

“Um, promise not to tell anyone?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

“Okay, well, it’s like…whenever he drinks my blood it-”

“He drinks your blood?” Jade glared at him and he shut up.

“Whenever he drinks my blood it feels…weirdly familiar. Like he’s done that before. It’s always felt like that since he first did that on New Year’s Eve. But he’d never done that before then. And today he hugged me from behind and for some reason it really scared me, even though I knew it was him. And it’s been bothering me for a long time and I can’t figure out what’s going on.” Dave was too surprised to say anything. _What’s that supposed to mean? Why would that feel familiar? That doesn’t make sense…wait a minute._

“Have you asked Karkat about it?” Jade nodded.

“When he first drank my blood, I mentioned it. He said it probably just reminds me of when I got turned into a Vampire. But I can’t even remember that happening.” _Oh no. Please tell me I’m wrong._ Dave gritted his teeth. _If I asked, they could just lie. I can’t just go back in time…dammit!_ Dave had to admit it was now bugging him. He desperately wanted to know. _WHO WAS IT WHO TURNED JADE?!_

Dave suddenly felt something inside him spring loose and a red light surrounded him. The scene around him changed and suddenly he was outside. But it was night. And he was at Jade’s house. He frowned and looked around. _What_ _happened? Did Jade teleport me? But it was morning._ Dave gasped. _No way._ _Can I time-travel?! That is so awesome!_

“Aaaaah!” Dave froze and looked at a window above him. _That’s Jade!_ He jumped up and looked through the window and froze. _Oh no. Come on. Just for once, let me be wrong with something like this._ But Dave couldn’t ignore the scene in front of him. Karkat was holding Jade from behind and biting her neck. Nepeta jumped on Jake and bit him. Equius started to turn towards the window and Dave dropped to the ground. _What about John?! And Rose, and me!_

Then the red light surrounded him again and he appeared outside John’s house. He gulped and climbed up to the window and looked through.

“Just close your eyes,” Vriska said. Dave watched her grab John and he struggled. Dave wanted to jump in there and stop her, but he remembered what John had said to him on Christmas Eve:

“ _It’s weird but…I get the feeling I’d be unhappy if I undid all this. I’ve made lots of new friends and had weird new experiences and…even if some of it makes me unhappy I don’t want to let this go.”_

_Dammit Egderp._ Dave watched Vriska bite John and he screamed. Dave dropped to the ground and shut his eyes.  _Then Rose and me as well?! All of us were bitten by them?!_ Dave was engulfed in the red light again and appeared at Rose’s house. He sighed and jumped up to the window.

Kanaya was shaking hands with Rose. Then she pulled her towards her and bit her neck and Rose screamed. Dave dropped to the ground and covered his ears and waited for Rose to stop. He walked around the house and saw a light on. He jumped up to the window and peeked through. Sollux and Eridan had Roxy pinned down and Sollux was biting her. Dave dropped to the ground and shook his head.  _Please tell me this is a shitty dream._ He got engulfed by the red light again and he sighed.

He was at his house. He gulped and took a deep breath. He climbed up to his bedroom window and after a second of hesitation looked in. He was battling Terezi. He was flash-stepping and swinging his sword with ease.

“Gamzee! I need backup!” Terezi yelled. Then Dirk tossed Gamzee into the room. Dave watched the fight unfold. Terezi pinned him against the wall and ducked a kick from Dirk. Gamzee jumped on Dirk and Feferi got his sword out of his hand. Dave watched Terezi bite him and he screamed. Gamzee bit Dirk and Dirk screamed. Dave shivered and dropped to the ground. Hearing himself and Dirk scream gave him the creeps. He shut his eyes and clenched his hands into fists.

_Why didn’t they tell us?! They never mentioned a thing! Did they think they could just keep something like that QUIET?!_ Dave bit his tongue, drawing blood. He growled and dug his nails into the palm of his hand.

“Dave?” Dave opened his eyes and found himself standing in the lounge next to Jade again. _Had I imagined that whole thing?_ “Dave, what just happened? You disappeared in a red light and just reappeared half a second later.” _Crap, I didn’t imagine it._

“I’ll be right back,” Dave said, walking to the door.

“What? Dave, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“But what happened?!” Dave didn’t answer her and walked out of the room, slamming the door. He walked down the hall to the room where Karkat’s team was. He knocked loudly on the door. After a few seconds Kanaya opened it.

“Oh, hello Dave. Do you need something?” she asked.

“Yeah, can you get your whole team into your lounge? I have something to ask you guys about.” Kanaya looked confused but she nodded. Dave stood in the doorway and waited while Kanaya got everyone.

“Okay, what the fuck do you want at this god-awful hour Strider?!” Karkat snapped. Dave walked in and slammed the door.

“You guys were the ones who turned us, weren’t you?!”


	21. Chapter 21

Karkat froze.  _Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! How the hell did he find out?! Did someone tell him?! No, no one would have done that. We all agreed not to let them find out! How the hell did he find out?! Oh shit, did he tell the others?! Oh shit, shit, shit!_

“You time-traveled,” Aradia said suddenly. “That’s your Power, isn’t it?” Dave nodded.

“So you admit it?” he asked. Karkat sighed and nodded.

“We knew it would freak you guys out if we told you,” he said. Dave glared at him.

“Great Karkat. Did you know it feels familiar to Jade when you drink her blood and it scares her when you hug her from behind?! DO YOU WANNA GUESS WHY THAT IS?!” Karkat’s eyes went wide and he closed his mouth. _Oh shit. Shiiiiit._

“You drink Jade’s blood?” Terezi asked. Karkat scowled at her.

“Terezi, this isn’t the time for-”

“Why the hell would you do that?!” Dave interrupted. “You attacked us! You made Jade and Rose and everyone scream! They were terrified!”

“We’re sorry Dave,” Feferi said. “Really. If you weren’t turned you would have died. We knew you wouldn’t remember it so it was okay-”

“No, it wasn’t okay!” Dave shouted. Feferi closed her mouth and stared at the ground. “What is wrong with all of you?!”

“Dolorosa commanded us to! We didn’t have a choice!” Karkat snapped.

“So you’re just pawns that follow the queen’s orders?! Aren’t you supposed to be a leader?!”

“Dave, just calm down!” Terezi said.

“No! I will not calm down!” Dave turned to leave and Karkat grabbed his arm.

“Did you tell the others?!” Dave scowled at him.

“Not yet.”

“You can’t!” Kanaya exclaimed.

“Dave, you can deal with this news by getting angry,” Aradia said. “But John, Rose and Jade, they won’t react like you. I don’t know how they’ll react. They might fall apart. Now that you know I wouldn’t want to ask you not to tell them, but you need to think of what will happen to them.” Dave hesitated and Karkat could tell they’d made a point.

“You can’t tell them,” Karkat said. “You’re stronger than them. John, Jade and Rose will deteriorate.”

“John’s not-” Dave stopped and scowled and closed his mouth. “Fine. I won’t tell them.” Karkat let go of his arm and Dave opened the door. He looked at them all and was probably glaring, then stormed out, slamming the door. Karkat sighed and sat down.

“What do we do now Karkat?” Terezi asked.

“Business as usual,” he replied. Everyone nodded and went to bed. Gamzee waited for Karkat to get up. “I’ll be out here for a bit. Go to sleep.”

“You alright Karbro?” Karkat sighed.

“I will be. Just let me think for a bit.” Gamzee nodded.

“G’morning best friend.”

“Good morning.”

DAVE’S POV:

By the time Dave was in front of the door to his room he had mostly calmed down. He sighed and opened the door. Jade was still sitting on the couch, but now Rose and John were there too.

“Dave? What’s wrong?” Jade asked. Dave sighed. _I can’t tell them. They’re right, they’ll fall apart._

“Uh, I just found out what my Power is so I went to mention it,” Dave said.

“Cool! What’s your power?” John asked. Dave hesitated.

“Time-travel.” Jade snapped to attention.

“What did you see?” she asked. _What should I say?_

“…Just something that happened to me once that we don’t need to mention,” Dave lied. All three of his friends instantly looked suspicious. _Shit, that didn’t work._

“What did you see Dave?” Rose asked. Dave sighed.

“Okay, I saw the Vampires that turned us.” They all sat up straighter and stared at him.

“Who were they?” John asked. Dave shrugged.

“I didn’t recognise them. And I didn’t really get a chance to memorize what they looked like because I had to come back before they spotted me. And I only saw the ones who attacked Jade and Jake.” _Yeah, a total lie. But it’s necessary._ Dave could see that they were disappointed, but Rose quickly changed the subject.

“Seeing a friend get attacked by a Vampire might trigger upsetting reactions like nightmares. Should I give you some counselling Dave?” Dave couldn’t help but laugh.

“No Rose. I don’t need counselling. I’m fine.” Rose nodded and stood up.

“Then I’m going to bed. But please tell me if you get upsetting dreams or anything that requires my attention.” Dave rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Sure Rose.” He yawned. “Come on John, let’s go to bed.” He grabbed John’s arm and they walked back to their dorm. Dave looked back and saw Rose talking to Jade as they walked into the girls’ dorm. Dave sighed and lay down in bed. _I hope they don’t find out. I really don’t know if they’d recover. Especially if Rose and Jade find out who bit them._

“Are you okay Dave?” John asked. Dave nodded.

“I’m fine John. It’ll take a lot to break this hard shell.” John sighed.

“I don’t even know if that made sense.”

“Sure it did.” John grinned and rolled his eyes.

“Good-morning Dave.”

“Good-morning John.” Dave shut his eyes and pulled his blanket over his head. _Oh, god. I want to tell him. I want him to know. But I can’t. I can’t. Oh man, I don’t know what to do!_


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in awhile! I didn't get many chances to go on the internet over spring break and when I did I was busy reading webcomics and watching videos. Sorry 'bout that.

“ _Where are you going?” Dirk asked, holding sleeping Dave._

“ _Just for a walk,” his dad said._

“ _Take care of Dave,” his mom said. Dave woke up and the sound of his name. He grinned and reached a small hand out to his parents._

“ _Where you goin’?” he asked._

“ _Just for a walk Dave.”_

“ _Wait!” Dirk said. “You guys never go on walks! Where are you going?!”_

“ _For a walk,”_

“ _When will you be back?!” Dave’s parents didn’t answer._

“ _Take care of Dave.”_

“ _Wait!” Dirk grabbed his dad’s hand and his dad slapped him._

“ _I said take care of your brother, Dirk!” he snapped._

“ _You can’t leave us!” Dirk argued. “I’m only six years old!”_

“ _Don’t come find us.”_

“ _Why?!”_

“ _Because we don’t want you to!” Dirk flinched and backed away._

“ _We’re leaving,” his mom said. “Now.”_

“ _Bye!” Dave said, grinning and waving. His parents turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door. Dirk stared at the closed door like it had just killed him. Dave wriggled around, now hungry. “Hungry.” he said. Dirk just stared at the door. Dave reached up and tugged his brother’s shirt. “Hungry bro! Hungry!” Dirk turned away from the door and walked into the kitchen. He set Dave on the counter and handed him some crackers. Dave grinned and ate them. “When do mama and dada get home?”_

“… _I don’t know.”_

“ _But they’ll be home soon, right?” Dirk smiled and patted Dave’s head._

“ _Yeah. They’ll be home soon.”_

“Dave!” Dave gasped and opened his eyes. John was leaning over him, looking worried. “Dave, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m totally fine Egderp,” Dave said quickly, sitting up.

“Dave, you’re crying,” John said, pointing at his face. Dave felt his face. He really was. _Striders don’t cry! Dammit!_ Dave wiped the tears away and grinned.

“I’m fine John. Seriously.” Dave got up and stretched. John didn’t seem convinced but he nodded and followed Dave to breakfast. Dave kept his poker face on and tried not to think of the dream.

It had been three weeks since he’d found out his Power. Dolorosa had strictly forbidden him from using it since he could really screw time up. Dave totally understood that, and he wasn’t one for breaking rules if it wasn’t ironic to. But he started thinking and he thought of his parents. He couldn’t remember them and Dirk had told him they died when he was three, though he’d never said how they died and Dave learned not to ask.

Dave had just wanted to know what had happened, how they had died. He would have just watched, that was it. But when he went to the past he found out his parents didn’t die. They abandoned him and Dirk and left to God-knows-where! Dave ground his teeth together.  _Why hadn’t Dirk ever said what happened?! I’m not a child anymore! He could have told me!_

“Dave? Aren’t you going to eat?” John asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah. I was just trying to think up a new rap,” Dave said. John rolled his eyes and went back to eating. Dave grabbed some food and started eating it. He pushed aside his thoughts about his parents and Dirk. _That’s past stuff anyway. I’m a Vampire now and I’ve got a nerd for a boyfriend and a bunch of crazy friends. Who cares about having parents when you’ve got all that?_

LATER, NEAR MORNING:

“Dave, wait a minute,” Rose said, grabbing Dave’s arm. “Before you go to bed, John asked me to talk to you.” Dave stared accusingly at John, who just looked at him like he wasn’t letting him get out of this one. Dave sighed and sat back down on the couch.

“Fine.” John and Jade went to bed while Rose sat next to him and pulled out her clipboard.

“John said you had a bad dream and woke up crying.”

“Striders don’t cry Rose.” Rose glared at him and he sighed. “Does it matter? It’s not important.”

“Yes, it does and it is. What were you dreaming about?” Dave was silent. He didn’t really want to say, but it had been bugging him all day. He ran his hands though is hair and sighed.

“Can you promise not to tell anyone?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, yesterday I time-traveled.” Rose looked surprised. Then she smacked him.

“Dave! You’re not allowed!”

“I know! I’m not going to do that again! And you don’t have to smack me!” Rose glared at him and he sighed.

“When did you go to?”

“…This day when I was three.”

“What happened?”

“I saw my parents.”

“I see. And?”

“………They abandoned Dirk and me.”

Rose’s expression softened. “I see. I’m sorry Dave. That’s what you were dreaming about?” Dave nodded. “Did Dirk never tell you about that?”

“He just said they’d died.”

“And that’s been bothering you.” Dave nodded. Rose was quiet for a few seconds as she wrote something down. Then she stood up. “Wait right here.” she said. She walked out of the lounge and Dave frowned. _Where’s she going?_ A couple minutes later she came back with Dirk. “Dave, talk with your brother.” she said before walking into the girls’ dorm. Dave stared at Dirk and there was an awkward silence between them.

“What’s wrong?” Dirk asked. _Yeah, he can tell when I’m upset._ Dave sighed.

“I used my Power yesterday, and-” Dirk punched Dave in the arm.

“Dave! You know why you’re not supposed to!” Dave sighed and rubbed the spot where Dirk had punched him.

“I know. Sorry.” Dirk sighed and crossed his arms.

“So what happened?” Dave chewed his lip and wondered if he should just lie. _No, Rose is probably listening in on this._

“I saw mom and dad.” Dave saw Dirk tense up slightly.

“What did you see?”

“…They abandoned us.” Dirk sighed and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I was too afraid to.” _What? But Dirk doesn’t get afraid! He’s totally fearless! …Isn’t he?_ “I meant to tell you but I didn’t know how you’d react and I kept putting it off. I guess I just thought you were better off thinking they’re dead.”

“Do you know where they are?” Dirk shook his head.

“No. And I don’t want to know.” Dave nodded. After a few seconds of silence Dirk bent down and pulled Dave into a hug. “Sorry I never said anything.”

“It’s fine,” Dave said, patting his shoulder. Dirk grinned and let him go.

“…You should get some sleep.” Dave nodded. “See ya.”

“See ya.” Dirk turned and walked out of the room. Rose walked in and looked at Dave.

“Better?” she asked. Dave nodded. “Good. Please let me know if you need any more help.”

“I will.” Dave stood up and walked into the boys’ dorm. John was sitting up in bed, waiting for him.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“Fine,” Dave said. He sat lay down and glanced at John, who was still sitting up. “Seriously, it’s all good now.”

“Okay.” Dave turned over and closed his eyes. After a few seconds John suddenly hugged him.

“Whoa, what are you doing John?”

“Hugging you.”

“Oh, no shit. I can see that. I mean why are you doing this?”

“You look like you need a hug.” Dave opened his mouth to say he didn’t but stopped. He kind of liked John hugging him, so he closed his mouth and smiled.

“Good-morning Egderp.”

“Good-morning Dave.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sister gets credit for this chapter because it was her idea. Let's give her a good round of applause for that, then enjoy the chapter. :)

Dave was hanging out with John, Jade and Rose in Roxy’s team’s room. Roxy and Jane were busy visiting Latula but Dirk and Jake were there. And Karkat, Kanaya, Nepeta and Equius were there too. Nepeta was grinning at all of them and making hearts with her hands around the couples. Equius was just there to keep an eye on her.

“Excuse me, I have a message.” A woman with pale skin and a grey cloak with a hood that covered her hair and some of the cloak was wrapped around her mouth so only her eyes showed walked in. “It’s a message for Dave and Dirk Strider. Are they here?”

“Yeah,” Dirk said. The woman handed him an envelope, bowed and left the room.

“What’s it say?” John asked. Dirk took out a piece of paper and read it out loud.

“Dirk and Dave Strider, you have been appointed the responsibility of a family moving into town this morning. You will target them tomorrow night at midnight. Remember to bring them to the kittens’ wing. Don’t mess up.”

“What?!” Kanaya exclaimed.

“Why just you two?” Aradia asked. “It’s always a team that goes.”

“Does it say who the family is?” Jake asked. Dirk reached in and started to pull another piece of paper out. He stopped when he saw it and shoved it back in the envelope. He stood up and grabbed Dave’s arm and dragged him into the boys’ dorm.

“What are you doing?!” Dave asked. Dirk sat down on his bed and pulled the paper out. Dave sat next to him and looked at the paper. “Oh crap.”

**Dana Strider/Dean Strider**

Husband and Wife. Moving to Alternia to make sure they’re hard to trace.

Dana Strider:

Gender: Female

Age: 49

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

Dean Strider:

Gender: Male

Age: 47

Possibility of Power(s): Unknown

Possible Power(s): Unknown

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Dave said. “Tell me these aren’t our parents!”

“They are,” Dirk said. Dave just stared at the paper.

“That’s why it’s just us?” Dirk nodded. They sat in silence for awhile.

“You gonna be okay?” Dirk asked. Dave nodded, but his stomach was full of butterflies. Dirk stood up and Dave followed him out of the room. Everyone else looked at them expectantly. “We’re going to the practice grounds.” Dirk said. Dave nodded and went to get his katana. John looked at him worriedly but Dave just patted his head and grinned.

At the practice grounds Dave and Dirk took out their frustration on the dummies. Dave could tell Dirk was upset by the way he swung his sword and the way he walked slightly differently. You had to live with this guy your whole life to see when he was feeling emotions. And even Dave sometimes had a hard time telling.

JOHN’S POV:

“Do you think something’s bothering them?” John asked.

“Well…they _seemed_ fine…” Jade said. But they all knew that Dave and Dirk had perfected their poker faces.

“I’ll talk to Dave before bed, okay John?” Rose said. John nodded.

When it was nearing sunrise John went back to his room. He sat in bed and waited for Dave to show up. He did about twenty minutes later. He was sweaty and his hair was a mess. He shoved his katana under his bed and lay down.

“Are you okay Dave?” John asked. Dave nodded.

“Totally fine Egderp, and I don’t need the therapy bullshit Rose pulled on me when I walked in.”

“We’re just worried about you.”

“John, I’m a Strider. I don’t need to be worried about.” John sighed.

“If you say so Dave.”

THE NEXT NIGHT, DAVE’S POV:

Dave followed Dirk through the Academy gates and to the town. They jumped onto a rooftop and stood there for a few seconds. Dave could see the house their parents were in. The lights were still on and Dave could see the glow of a TV screen. Dave glanced at Dirk, who nodded. They leapt across rooftops, making their way to the house. They stopped on a house next to it.

“Remember, they arrived some time after midnight yesterday, so we have to be fast,” Dirk said. Dave nodded. They stared at the house.

“Should we just go up to the door and knock?” Dirk hesitated.

“…Sure.”

They jumped down and quietly made their way to the door. Dirk reached for the doorbell, then hesitated. He changed his mind and knocked loudly on the door. Dave could hear a conversation pause and someone walk to the door. The door opened, revealing their dad.

Dirk grabbed his arm and dragged him upstairs. Dave followed behind them. Upstairs they found their mom watching TV. She jumped up when they walked in and ran to their dad, whom Dirk dropped on the ground. Dave stood on one side of them while Dirk stood on the other and blocked the door. They watched their parents stand up and stare at them.

“Dave?” his mom asked. Dave nodded and she gasped.

“How the hell did you find us?!” their dad hissed.

“You have to leave! Now!” their mom yelled.

“No,” Dirk said. “We’re not leaving.” Their dad raised his hand and Dirk flinched. Dave punched his dad between the shoulder blades and his dad gasped and fell to the ground. He was fine, just stunned. Their mom bent down and pulled him up. She kept an arm around him protectively and glared at Dave.

“Maybe we should have disciplined you like we did Dirk before we left!” she spat. Dave glared at her and clenched his hands into fists.

“I don’t care what you would have done to me. I want to know why you left!”

“Get out of our sight!” their dad yelled. Dirk punched him in the face and he doubled over.

“I’ve waited sixteen years to do that,” Dirk said. Their mom glared at him.

“Get out!” she screeched. “Get out! Out! This instant! I-”

“We’re not leaving until you answer our question!” Dave snapped. His mom glared at him.

“Shut up! Get out of my sight you ungrateful brat! I never want to see you again!”

“Well, I don’t want to ever see you again either!” Dave punched her and she staggered a bit. His dad stood up and raised his hand into a fist.

Then they both froze suddenly. Dave frowned, confused. Then his parents dropped to the ground, unmoving. Dirk bent over them and checked their pulses. He swore and looked up at Dave.

“They’re dead.” Dave stared at them in shock.

“We failed.” Dirk nodded and stood up. They both stared at the bodies of their parents for awhile. _Oh shit. I hadn’t meant for this to happen. I just wanted to know why the hell they left. Now we’ll never know!_

“Let’s torch this place,” Dirk said. 

Dave nodded and went downstairs. He went outside to the garage and grabbed jugs of gasoline. He walked back into the house and Dirk helped him layer the place with the gasoline. Then they stood by the bodies of their parents and doused them in gasoline. Dave chucked the jugs out the window and Dirk held up the envelope with their orders and the profiles of their parents. He dropped it on the bodies and Dave lit a match. He dropped it on them and watched them burn. The fire snaked across the room, lighting up the gasoline. Dave followed Dirk out the window and they stood a few rooftops away and watched the house burn. They didn’t move for awhile until the sky was just starting to lighten. Then they turned and flash-stepped back to the Academy.

They were completely silent as they walked through the gates. They both silently agreed to never discuss that night ever again. Dave took a deep breath and they walked into the Academy. Dolorosa was waiting for them. She stood before them with her arms crossed. She glared at them and Dave instantly looked at the ground and felt ashamed.

“Go to your rooms!” Dolorosa snapped. Dave and Dirk nodded and walked down the hall and up some stairs. Dave nodded to Dirk when they got to his room’s door. Dirk nodded back and they both silently agreed to never mention that un-Strider moment.

Dave watched Dirk walk off down the hallway for a bit. Then he took a deep breath and walked inside. John, Jade and Rose were all waiting for him. They were sitting on the couch and Rose was talking to John. They went quiet when Dave walked in and looked at him expectantly. Dave just walked into the boys’ dorm and lay on his bed. John followed him and knelt next to him.

“Dave? You okay?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Dave said. John nodded and lay down.

“Good-morning Dave.” Dave didn’t respond.


	24. Chapter 24

Rose noticed that Dave and Dirk seemed upset by something ever since their mission. Everyone had heard that they’d failed, but Rose knew that something like that wouldn’t bother them for weeks. But whatever was bothering them was. John was extremely worried about Dave and he tried to get him to tell him what was wrong or to talk to Rose. But Dave just insisted he was fine and that John was overreacting.

One morning Rose woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. So she quietly got up and left to wander the halls until she got sleepy. She just wandered randomly, only half paying attention to where she was going. She hummed quietly to herself as she walked. She walked past the washrooms, then stopped. She could hear two people talking in the boys’ washroom. She stepped closer and identified them as Dave and Dirk. When Rose became a Vampire her sense of hearing grew much more than John, Jade and Dave’s. So she could hear most of what they were saying.

“-thinking that maybe I could go back and fix what we did.” Dave said.

“No,” Dirk said. “You know that…” Rose frowned when he spoke quieter and she couldn’t hear him. She walked up to the door and knocked.

“Dave? Dirk?” she called. They stopped talking and Dave walked up and opened the door.

“This is the boys’ washroom. What do want?” he asked.

“What’s been bothering you two?” Rose asked. She saw Dave tense for a second.

“Nothing Rose. Seriously, you’re all overreacting.”

“Then why did you tense up when I asked?” Dave hesitated and Rose sighed. “I just want to help. It’s really upsetting seeing you two like this and you won’t talk to anyone. John’s really worried Dave.” Dave sighed and Dirk walked up behind him.

“Rose, we’re fine,” Dirk said. Rose shook her head.

“No you’re not. Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” Dave glanced at Dirk like he wasn’t sure what to do. Dirk stared at Rose for awhile and she stared back, unblinking.

“We don’t want to talk about it,” he said. Rose nodded and looked at Dave.

“Dave? Do you want to talk about it?” Dave hesitated. He opened his mouth to say something but he just closed it. Rose stepped into the washroom and shut the door behind her. “Tell me.” Dave glanced at Dirk, who nodded. Dave turned back to Rose and took a deep breath.

“We—we were supposed to turn our parents.” Rose nodded. _So that’s why it was only them. But that just seems cruel._

“What happened?”

“They…screamed at us. They told us to get out. Mom yelled at me that she didn’t want to see me ever again. I think dad used to hurt Dirk and-” Dave stopped and covered his mouth. Dirk patted his shoulder as if to say it was okay. “And I think they would have done the same to me if they stayed. I—we just wanted to know why they left. But we took too long asking them and they…” Rose reached forward and hugged Dave.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she said. Dave hesitated before hugging her back. “Will you be okay now?” Rose let Dave go and looked him in the eye. Dave shrugged and stared at his feet.

“I dunno,” he said. Rose nodded and looked at Dirk. He shrugged too.

“If you need comforting or someone to talk to, please tell me,” Rose said. Dave nodded and after hesitating Dirk nodded too. Rose smiled. “Thank you. Now we should all go to bed.”

Rose and Dave went back to their room and Rose went to the girls’ dorm. She lay down and stared at the ceiling.  _I’ve done all I can for now. I just have to keep an eye on them._

JOHN’S POV:

Dave walked in and lay down in bed. John sat up and looked at him.

“Are you okay Dave?” he asked again. Dave nodded.

“Yeah. I’m fine now.”

“You talked to Rose, huh?” Dave nodded and John smiled, relieved. “I’m glad.”

“No chick-flick moments Egderp,” Dave said. John chuckled and reached over and ruffled his hair.

“Sure Dave.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave’s nose. Dave smiled and John lay back down.

“Good-morning John.”

“Good-morning Dave.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this is literally another spin-the-bottle chapter. Good shit starts happening next chapter though, so look forward to it!

One day it was Nepeta’s birthday. She had invited everyone to her team’s room for a party. They all came and she got presents from her friends. While they were all sitting in the lounge and talking and Roxy was drinking Nepeta spoke up.

“Since it’s my birthday, we’re all going to play spin-the-bottle!” she declared. Everyone stopped and stare at her with an expression of _not again!_ Nepeta grinned. “Since it’s bottle, not faygo, mew can’t wimp out too!” Meulin clapped and Roxy held up an empty bottle of vodka.

“We’ll use this!” she declared. Nepeta nodded and Meulin had everyone sit in a circle.

“I’ll go first!” Nepeta said. She reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Terezi.

Nepeta stared at her in surprise.  _Okay, I admit I was hoping fur Karkitty._ Nepeta sighed and kissed Terezi. To her surprise it didn’t feel as awkward as kissing Aradia on New Year’s had. She sat back down and watched Karkat take a turn.

It pointed at John.

Karkat flipped because he was straight. Dave put his arm around John’s shoulder.

“Hold it! No one is allowed to kiss my John except me!” he said. Nepeta giggled and made a heart around them with her hands.

“You can’t wimp out Karkat!” Terezi said. “Same for you John!”

“No!” Karkat protested. Terezi grabbed Karkat and shoved him on John. And yeah, they wound up kissing. Nepeta clapped and cheered and threw confetti on them. Dave pushed Karkat off John and put John on his lap. Nepeta giggled and watched Dave kiss John to get Karkat’s kiss off him. Karkat sat down next to Jade.

“I’ll go next!” Terezi said, spinning the bottle.

It pointed at Dave.

Terezi shoved John off Dave and kissed him. Dave quickly shoved her off and kissed John again, who was blushing because he kept doing that. Terezi pouted and Nepeta giggled. Then Vriska spun the bottle.

It pointed at Tavros.

Vriska rolled her eyes and kissed Tavros, then sat down. Gamzee put an arm around Tavros’s shoulders and whispered something to him.  _Why aren’t they together yet? They’re so purrfect!_

“Now Eridan!” Nepeta said, pointing at Eridan. Eridan sighed and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Karkat.

Nepeta cheered and Vriska and Terezi laughed. Cronus was laughing too and Kankri was ranting to him about how triggering that probably was for them and how triggering it was that people were laughing and blah, blah, blah. Eridan shook his head and turned away from Karkat.

“Just kiss you two!” Terezi yelled. She grabbed Eridan and shoved him on Karkat. And yep, they kissed! Nepeta cheered and threw confetti on them and Eridan quickly got off Karkat and sat next to Sollux. Karkat sat back up and shifted closer to Jade.

“Now Jane! Now Jane!” Nepeta insisted. Jane sighed and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Eridan.

There was an awkward moment where everyone was basically like  _wait-what?_ until Jane was shoved onto Eridan. She didn’t kiss him when she fell on him but she sighed and kissed him quickly before sitting back down. Nepeta giggled and clapped her hands.  _That’s a cute shipping!_

“I’ll go next,” Dirk said. He reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Aranea.

Dirk and Aranea both flipped and lots of people howled with laughter. Terezi and Latula grabbed them and made them kiss. Then Dirk broke out of their grip and sat back next to Jake and wiped his mouth. Aranea sat down and retched for a few seconds. By then everyone had calmed down enough for Aradia to go next. She smiled and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Sollux.

_Aw, cute! I mean, they broke up, but I still love the shipping!_ Nepeta smiled as Aradia sighed and kissed Sollux, then sat back down. Then Sollux decided to spin the bottle.

It pointed at Eridan.

Nepeta and almost everyone cheered loudly. Sollux grinned and kissed Eridan and Nepeta threw confetti on them. Then Terezi pulled them apart and yelled that it was the next person’s turn. That next person was Aranea. She sighed and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Meenah.

Nepeta cheered and Aranea sighed. She kissed Meenah, then sat back down. Nepeta cheered and grinned at them. 

“Now Feferi! Feferi!” Nepeta said. Feferi smiled nervously and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Sollux.

She stared at him in surprise. Nepeta clapped and Feferi sighed and kissed Sollux. She sat back down quickly and looked away from Sollux. Nepeta realized something while watching her.  _Oh dear. She likes Sollux_ and _Eridan!_

“Tavros, how about mew?” Nepeta said. Tavros reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Jade.

He stared at her in surprise and Nepeta cheered.  _Yes! Mew two are cute together! Get together so Karkitty-_ Nepeta stopped herself and shook her head.  _Stop that!_ Meulin tapped her on the shoulder and Nepeta opened her eyes in time to see Tavros quickly kiss Jade, then sit back down. Nepeta grinned, but on the inside she wasn’t too happy.  _I can’t believe I thought that. I have to get over him._

Gamzee went next. He reached forward with a grin and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Karkat.

Nepeta cheered as Gamzee kissed Karkat. He grinned and sat back down. Nepeta could see Tavros was jealous and she grinned.  _So cuuute!_ She watched as Roxy took a turn spinning the bottle.

It pointed at Dirk.

“Oh come on!” Roxy exclaimed. “That happens when I’m already over him and in a relationship! Jesus fuck!”

“Kiss Dirk already!” Nepeta insisted. Roxy grinned and kissed Dirk, who tensed up. _Yeah, he doesn’t like being kissed by a girl_. Roxy sat back down next to Jane and Rose took a turn. She reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at John.

She looked at him in surprise and sighed and kissed him. Nepeta cheered and Rose sat back down. Dave kissed John again and John blushed and Nepeta cheered harder.

“Now Cronus! Cronus!” Nepeta said. Cronus smirked and spun the bottle. _C’mon! Get Kankri! Get Kankri!_

It pointed at Meenah.

Cronus and Meenah both protested as Terezi and Latula grabbed them and made them kiss. Then Cronus elbowed Latula in the gut and she dropped him. She and Terezi sat back down, laughing.

“Dave, mewr turn.” Nepeta said. Dave glanced at John, then spun the bottle.

It pointed at Jade.

They both stared at each other in surprise. Nepeta grinned as Dave kissed Jade. He sat back down and kissed John again. Jade pursed her lips and smiled. Then Kankri took a turn.

It pointed at Meulin.

Nepeta stared at them in surprise. Kankri mumbled about triggers and kissed Meulin. He sat back down and Cronus grabbed him and kissed him. Nepeta clapped and cheered, as did Meulin. Then Kurloz reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Nepeta.

Nepeta blinked in surprise. Kurloz signed something to Meulin and kissed her. It felt…interesting. Not something Nepeta would want to do again, but not something bad either. She blushed and Kurloz sat back down.

“U-um, Latula!” Nepeta said quickly. Latula grinned and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Aranea.

Latula leaned forward and kissed her, then sat back down. Nepeta clapped and Rufioh reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Aranea. Again.

He stared at her in surprise and sighed. Nepeta clapped as he kissed Aranea. Then he sat back down next to Horrus. Then Meenah reached forward and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Mituna.

Terezi had to grab Meenah and throw her on Mituna to get her to do anything. And yes, they wound up kissing. Meenah kicked Terezi and sat back down. Nepeta watched Mituna reach forward and spin the bottle.

It pointed at Kankri.

Mituna and Kankri stared at each other in surprise. Then Mituna took a deep breath and kissed Kankri. He sat back down next to Latula and she kissed his cheek, and Nepeta clapped.

“Meulin! Mew go! Mew go!” Nepeta insisted. Meulin smiled and spun the bottle.

It pointed at Gamzee.

_That’s a reverse of what happened fur Kurloz._ Meulin signed something to Kurloz and kissed Gamzee. Then she sat back down and Damara spun the bottle.

It pointed at Meenah.

Damara said something in Japanese and kissed Meenah, then sat back down.

“Please tell me we’re not fucking playing seven-minutes-in-heaven again,” Karkat said.

“Don’t worry, we’re not.” Nepeta said. Nearly everyone was relieved to hear that.

The rest of Nepeta’s birthday party was spent eating cake and playing funny games. Roxy got a bunch of people drunk and started singing and dancing. Eventually Nepeta got tired and Equius made everyone go to bed. Then Meulin carried her into her room and tucked her in bed.

*Happy Birthday Nepeta,* she signed.

“Thanks Meulin. Good-morning.”

*Good-morning.*


	26. Chapter 26

John yawned and sat up. It was night time and Dave was also waking up. John smiled at him and they walked into the lounge. Rose and Jade were waiting for them, along with their messenger PM.

“Goodnight you two,” Rose said.

“Goodnight. What’s up PM?” John said.

“I have a very important message for you all,” she said.

“What is it?” Dave asked.

“A Vampire Hunter was sighted in a nearby town.”

“What?!” they all exclaimed.

“Are we in danger?” Jade asked nervously.

“Not as long as they’re in another town,” PM answered. “But you are all required to wear these robes. They are a different colour depending on your Power(s). And you must carry your weapon with you at all times.” PM handed them each a robe. Dave’s was red, John’s was light blue, Jade’s was still black and Rose’s was a plain white. PM explained white robes were for the ones who didn’t have or know their Power(s) yet. And they were each styled a bit differently. Jade’s only went down to her knees and came with striped socks. Dave’s had a hood and a cape. John’s had a long hood. John and Dave went back to their dorm and changed into the new robes. John then tucked his hammer into his belt while Dave stuck his katana in its sheath.

“You look nervous John,” Dave commented.

“Of course I’m nervous! There are Vampire Hunters nearby! How could I not be nervous?!”

“Chill. We’re fine as long as they don’t come near us. It could just be a coincidence.”

“Yeah…I guess.” John and Dave walked back to the lounge where Jade and Rose were waiting, now wearing their robes. They smiled nervously and followed them down the hall.

In the Brother Eating Hall there were guards at the doors and all the other students had weapons on them. John also noticed Karkat’s team and Mheena’s team had their new robes on. Karkat’s and Kankri’s were brown and Karkat’s looked like Dave’s. Tavros’s and Rufioh’s were blue like John’s and Tavros’s and Jake’s both were styled the same. And man, they looked ridiculous! Sollux’s and Mituna’s were dark green and Mituna’s was styled like John’s. Gamzee’s and Kurloz’s were purple and Gamzee’s made him look like a squid. Equius’s and Horrus’s were dark blue and Equius’s was styled like John’s too. Eridan’s and Cronus’s were a pale yellow and Eridan’s had the same weird style as Kurloz’s. Overall, everyone looked a bit unusual. And colourful.

“D-do you think the Vampire Hunters will attack us?” Tavros wondered aloud.

“Don’t worry Tavbro. I’ll protect you from the evil motherfuckers,” Gamzee said, putting his arm around Tavros.

“And we’re all great at fighting so it shouldn’t go too badly,” Karkat said. “But be cautious anyway.”

“There are guards patrolling throughout the Academy at all hours,” Equius added. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

JANE’S POV:

“If any good-fer-nothin’ Vampire Hunters sneak in here I’ll shoot ‘em!” Roxy declared.

“That’s pretty much going to be everyone’s reaction,” Aradia said.

“How many Vampires are there in this Academy?” Jane asked.

“Well…there are a couple hundred students,” Aradia answered. “And then there are all the teachers and guards and beasts. There are also guards positioned around the town.”

“So basically, a lot,” Meenah said. She grinned and fingered her trident. “I wouldn’t mind an actual fight. Fighting a real moving target that you can actually kill is loads more fun than practicing on a dummy or sparring.”

“Still, I hope there won’t be any fighting. What if some people get hurt or killed?” Jane said.

“S’long as it’s the bad guys, I’m cool,” Meenah said, shrugging. Jane sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I wish I could be as care-free about it as you.”

ARANEA’S POV:

After breakfast Aranea and the rest of her group walked out and met up with the boys. Aranea stared at Dirk, who had his arm around Jake. She felt anger well up inside her and she clenched her hands into fists.  _It’s not fair! Why does he get Jake?! Why does everyone always overlook me?! They’re always so much more interested in Vriska! She’s SO much more interesting than boring old Aranea!_ Aranea clenched her jaw and glared at Dirk.  _I’ll show you! I won’t lose so easily! Just you watch. I’ve still got some creative cards up my sleeve!_ Aranea smirked to herself as a plan began to form in her head. She smiled as she followed Mheena.  _Yes…just a bit more planning and this should all go very smoothly._


	27. Chapter 27

Meenah woke up and glanced at the curtains covering the windows. Sunlight was shining through a crack in them. Meenah groaned.  _Great. I woke up too glubbing early. I bet I can’t fall asleep for the rest of the glubbing morning too! Typical!_ She sighed and glanced at the bed next to her, then stopped. Aranea wasn’t there. Meenah sat up and looked around. Everyone else was.  _What the shell is she thinking?! There’s Vampire Hunters in a nearby town and she’s wandering around in the morning?!_ Meenah got up to go after her, then stopped. _She’s probably still upset about the Jake thing. It’s taking her forever to get over it._ Meenah sighed and lay back down.  _The best thing to do in this situation is to let her get over it herself. I think._

ARANEA’S POV:

Aranea snuck down the corridor, keeping the hood of her robe pulled over her face. She was wearing her ordinary black one since the yellow one could be seen too easily. She dodged a few guards and made her way out of the Academy. She stuck to the shadows as she walked through the town. When she got to the border she glanced over her shoulder one last time before grinning and dashing ahead. It was so exhilarating, going on a dangerous mission by yourself. Aranea would have laughed if she wasn’t trying to be inconspicuous.

After an hour of running Aranea arrived at the next town. She stopped in an alley to rest. She heard someone sneak up from the rooftops and grinned.  _That was fast. These certainly aren’t amateurs._ Aranea jumped out of the way as a man pounced at her. A younger woman jumped at her and Aranea ducked and kicked her so she landed on the man. Aranea stood up straight and put her hand to her forehead. The man grabbed the woman and pulled her to her feet. He held his knife to her throat and she froze.

“James, what are you doing?!” she asked.

“I mean you no harm,” Aranea said. The woman glared at her.

“What are you doing?! What have you done to James?!”

“I’m simply commanding him, and he’s obeying me.” Aranea smiled and the woman shivered. “But that’s not important now. I need to ask you a quick question: How many of you are there here?”

“Like I’ll tell you!” Aranea frowned and James pressed the knife deeper into the woman’s throat. She gasped and struggled a bit. “Lots of us! We’ll take you all down in seconds! There’s no way you can beat us!” Aranea smiled and nodded.

“Good. That’s what I was hoping for.” The woman frowned, confused.

“What?”

“Please take me to the leader of your group. Right now.” James pinned her arms behind her and held the knife to the middle of her back. The woman glared at Aranea and started walking. Aranea smiled and followed behind them. _Perfect._

After walking down a maze of alleys and dark, abandoned streets they stopped at a sewer grate. Aranea opened it and had James and the woman climb down first. She followed them and the woman led her deep into the sewers. Aranea didn’t walk through the sludge down there but contented herself to making James and the woman walk through it. Though after awhile she had them get out and walk quietly so that they weren’t detected.

Eventually they came to a set of doors. Two guards were standing there and Aranea quickly put them under her control. They opened the doors for them and they walked inside. Aranea had the guards follow in behind them.  _They could be useful._

“What is going on?!” Aranea looked up and grinned. A man was standing in the center of the room with what seemed to be a council behind him. There was a crowd of other Vampire Hunters sitting in chairs around the room. They all immediately stood up and drew their weapons. Aranea took control of them and they stopped instantly. Aranea then had James let the woman go and took control of her. They stepped aside and Aranea walked up to the man.

“Hello. Are you their leader?” she asked. The man hesitated before nodding.

“Yes. I am.” Aranea grinned.

“Perfect. I have a proposition for you.”


	28. Chapter 28

Rose jabbed at her food with her fork. She wasn’t very hungry. She’d had a bad feeling ever since she woke up and it was getting worse as the day went on. She sighed and leaned back from her plate. She stretched her arms and looked around her. Aranea wasn’t eating her food either. Instead she was sitting still and looked like she’d spring into action at a moment’s notice. Rose had never seen her so on edge before.  _The threat of the Vampire Hunters is worrying everyone._

Rose could see the worry in lots of people if she looked around. Jane was fingering her trident and would glance around nervously from time to time. Nepeta was biting her nails and sticking close to Meulin. Terezi was sniffing around her and nibbling on her food. Feferi was glancing around her and ignoring her food. Kanaya, who was sitting next to Rose, had one hand on her chainsaw and the other hand on Rose’s arm. She wasn’t eating either. Rose looked at Roxy sitting next to her. Roxy was eating her food as fast as she could and still keeping a hand on her gun.  _She must want to finish eating quickly in case we’re attacked._

Then something happened. Rose had a sudden thought, like it had been planted in her head, yet she knew it wasn’t.  _A poison arrow will kill Roxy!_ Rose acted immediately and pushed Roxy off her chair. She fell to the floor and sure enough an arrow landed in her food. The food dissolved immediately, then the plate did too. Roxy jumped up and everyone stood up and looked around.  _Vampire Hunters!_

JOHN’S POV:

It was utter chaos in the Brother Eating Hall. Vampire Hunters had gotten inside the Academy and were now fighting. John used his wind powers to knock the Vampire Hunters away or he hit them with his hammer. He stuck as close to Dave as he could. It wasn’t easy since Dave kept flash-stepping everywhere. Eventually John had to stop trying to stay close to Dave and focus on staying alive.

Throughout the fight John saw a variety of powers used. He saw beast-tamers unleash their powerful beasts on the Vampire Hunters. He saw Jake use some white energy against them and Dirk pulled ghostly images out of the Vampire Hunters. Gamzee seemed to have snapped and was ferociously attacking. Karkat was staying near him the whole time and shouting orders to his team. Sollux and Mituna were shooting lasers out of their eyes and moving objects without touching them. Equius was punching all the Vampire Hunters that he could reach and Horrus was shooting them with his bow. Eridan was shooting them with his gun and a lot of the ones he fought seemed to get discouraged.

“H-help me!” John looked down and saw a boy about his age in a black robe lying below him. He dropped down and picked the boy up.

“Are you okay?” John asked. The boy looked up at him and John gasped. _Shoot! He’s not a Vampire!_ Before John could react the boy reached forward and clamped a metal choker around his neck. John gasped and dropped him. He tried to pull the choker off but it felt like it was sealed to his skin. Then an electric shock ran through his body and he blacked out.

JAKE’S POV:

Jake wasn’t sure how good he was really doing at fighting. He’d discovered his hope Power a little while ago and it was doing some good damage. But no matter how many Vampire Hunters he took down more were still coming. He was starting to get tired and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out. And he’d gotten separated from Dirk in the fighting.

“Jake!” Jake turned around and found Aranea collapsed on the floor.

“Aranea?! What are you doing here?!” Jake bent down and picked her up. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Aranea smiled and hugged him. “Wha-what are you doing?” Jake felt something wrap around his neck and he dropped Aranea. He felt at the thing and realized it was metal. He tried to pull it off but it wouldn’t move. An electric shock shot through him and he collapsed and blacked out.

JANE’S POV:

Jane was frantically fighting every Vampire Hunter that got too close to her. She wasn’t good at fighting in a real battle. The confusion was too much for her. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

“Die Vampire!” A Vampire Hunter knocked her trident out of her grasp. She reached for it but he pulled out his gun and shot her.

Everything went black. Jane waited for something to happen. _Did I die?_ She opened her mouth but found she couldn’t speak.  _I don’t want to die! I have to keep fighting! I have to know Roxy’s alright!_ Then the blackness began to lighten. Slowly at first, then all at once Jane was back in the fight. The sudden noise made her flinch. But she wasted no time grabbing her trident and stabbing the man that had shot her. She stood up and looked around her.  _Where’s Roxy?_

“Janey! Look out!” Jane turned and Roxy pushed her to the ground. Jane looked up and saw her get shot.

“Roxy!” She grabbed her as she fell and held her up. “No, no, no! You can’t die! I didn’t die! C’mon, do the same trick Roxy…” But Roxy didn’t move. Jane started crying and held her body close to her. “No! Come back Roxy!” Jane opened her eyes and saw a light blue light come out of her hands and envelope Roxy. Her wound disappeared and she gasped and sat up.

“Janey! Are you okay?” she asked. Jane smiled and wiped her tears.

“I’m fine now.” _So that’s my Power. Oh I’m so glad._

“Keep fighting you two!” Meenah yelled. “You’ll have time for sloppy make-outs later!” Jane grabbed her trident and stood up. Roxy stood up and they kept fighting.

“Oh hey, I figured out my Power while fighting!” Roxy said.

“Really? What is it?” Jane asked.

“I can turn invisible! I’m such a badass!”

DAVE’S POV:

Dave was doing great. The speed and confusion of the battle were nothing to him. He strifed with Dirk so many times that he felt natural in the fight. He’d gotten separated from John though and that worried him. He wasn’t sure how well John could protect himself. Though he did have his wind powers and they would probably kick in if he was in danger. Dave stabbed a Vampire Hunter and made himself stop worrying about John. _He’ll be fine._

DIRK’S POV:

_Where’s Jake?_ Dirk looked around him but he couldn’t see him.  _Damn it! I can’t believe I got separated from him! I have to find him again. I don’t know how well he’ll do in this fight. He’s not used to stuff like this like Dave and I._ Dirk made his way through the crowd, looking around for Jake.  _Where the hell is he?!_

AFTER THE FIGHT, DAVE’S POV:

Dave sighed and sheathed his katana. The Vampire Hunters had retreated. They were cool now. Karkat started a role-call to make sure all the guys of his team were there. Kankri did the same. Dave looked around for John. He was probably looking around for him now.

“John?” Dave called out. He made his way through the crowd, looking around. “John?!”

“Dave!” Dave turned around and saw Dirk run up to him. “Dave, I can’t find Jake! Have you seen him?”

“No, I’m trying to find John. Have you seen him?” Dirk shook his head. Okay, now Dave was getting worried. He stood on a table and looked around. He could see lots of people with blue robes, but none of them were John. _Where the hell is he?!_

“Attention please.” Dave looked up at Karkat and Kankri’s dad. “Everyone is to meet in the Entrance Hall right now. The girls will be there too. Injured will be taken to the medical wing. Those with healing powers please go there as well.” Dave followed Dirk out of the Brother Eating Hall, looking for John as he did. Dirk kept looking for Jake as they walked.

They arrived to the Entrance Hall at the same time as the girls did. Dave caught up with Rose and Jade. Jade had a cut on her cheek and looked a bit tired, but otherwise wasn’t so bad. Rose had almost no scrapes on her.

“Dave, is John okay?” Jade asked.

“I dunno. I can’t find him.” Jade looked worried. “But I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Attention please.” Everyone turned and looked at the Dolorosa. She scanned the crowd and frowned. Nepeta and Meulin’s mom came up and talked to her. She nodded and looked back at the crowd. “We seem to be missing three students.”

“Oh no,” Jade said.

“John’s not necessarily one of them,” Dave whispered. He looked around for John again but still couldn’t see him. He could see Dirk looking around for Jake.

“Teams will be sent out to find them. In the meantime, everyone is to sleep in here. Guards will be posted nearby at all hours. If you want to go to the bathroom or to the medical wing, you must be accompanied by an adult. I will be in the medical wing. No one can visit their friends in there until I announce they are in well enough condition. Is that clear?”

“Yes Dolorosa,” everyone chorused.

“One last thing; anyone who discovered their Power(s), please come with me.” Dolorosa stood up and walked out. Rose, Roxy, Jane and some other students followed her out of the room. Dave looked at Jade and saw that she was crying.

“John’s missing, isn’t he? And Jake too.”

“No, not necessarily. They’re probably just in the medical wing. It’ll be fine Jade, really.” Jade nodded and wiped her tears away.

“Yeah.”

Some guards came in with sleeping bags for everyone. Jade got one for Rose and just in case Dave got John one too. They set the sleeping bags up so they were in a group. Karkat’s team was right next to them. Dirk was also next to them. He’d gotten sleeping bags for the rest of his team, including Jake. Meenah’s team was also near them and Meenah was talking to Vriska.  _Hey, where’s Aranea? Is she missing too?_

“You should get some sleep Dave,” Jade said. “You’re probably really tired after that fight.”

“Nah, I strife with Dirk all the time. That was nothing.” Dave was actually lying. He was tired. But he wanted to stay up and make sure John was okay.

“Dave, Jade!” Dave turned and saw Jane, Rose and Roxy come up to them. They’d changed robes. Jane’s was light-brown and looked like Aradia’s. Rose was now wearing a yellow robe that was styled like Terezi’s. Roxy’s was dark blue and styled like Nepeta’s.

“Rose, did you see John and Jake in the medical wing?” Jade asked.

“Aranea’s not here either,” Vriska said. Rose bit her lip and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, they’re the ones that are missing.”


	29. Chapter 29

John was stiff all over. He was lying on a hard stone floor. He tried to move his arms and legs but they were stuck to the floor. He opened his eyes and blinked. He looked around him frantically.  _Where am I?!_ He was in a dark room that was sort of damp. His arms and legs were shackled to the floor. The only light in the room came from the candles that were being lit. They were all lined up in a circle around John. A girl who looked younger than him with white hair was lighting them.

“Oh, you’re awake?” she said. She finished lighting the candles and came up to John. She knelt over him and touched his cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Um, I’m stiff and sore and my hands and legs are shackled. Can you please get the shackles off?” The girl smiled and shook her head.

“You must have been through a lot.” She reached out and touched his neck. “You weren’t born a Vampire, were you? You were turned.”

“Y-yeah.” The girl smiled and patted his cheek.

“What’s your name?”

“John.”

“Well, don’t worry John. You won’t have to be like this much longer.”

“What?”

“I’m going to save you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to turn you back into a human.”

JAKE’S POV:

Jake groaned and blinked his eyes open. _Where am I?_ He looked around him but didn’t recognise the room he was in. He sat up and winced at the headache he had. He felt at his neck and found that the metal choker was still there. _What happened?_

“Jake?” Jake turned and gasped.

“Aranea!”

ARANEA’S POV:

Aranea crawled over to Jake. She had the collar of her robe turned up so he couldn’t see her neck. After all, she didn’t have a choker on. Jake bent down and helped her sit up.

“Are you okay? Where are we? What happened?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I-I don’t know where we are. The Vampire Hunters captured us.” Aranea saw the look of horror on Jake’s face.

“What’s going to happen to us?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Aranea reached forward and hugged him. He hugged her back and she smiled. _Take that Dirk!_ She grabbed his chin and pulled his face towards her and kissed him. Jake froze for a few seconds, then shoved her off him. Aranea felt something in her snap and she glared at him.

“What are you—don’t do that!” Jake said. He was backing away from her. _No! Don’t look at me like that! Don’t hate me! Notice me! Love me!_ Aranea glared at him and brought her hand to her head.

“I’ll show you Dirk!” she muttered. She took control of Jake and he relaxed. She smiled and walked back up to him, still controlling him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. _Ha! Take that Dirk! You’re boyfriend’s mine now!_

JOHN’S POV:

“What?! No!” John thrashed in his bonds. “You can’t! Don’t!” The girl frowned.

“Don’t you wish you were human again?”

“I…I used to. But now I really actually like being a Vampire. It’s not as bad as you would think. There’s nothing wrong with being a Vampire. Why would you even hunt us down? We’re not evil!”

“Not evil?” The girl leaned in close to John. “You say that, but they’ll order you to turn an innocent human someday, won’t they?”

“Ah-” John stopped when he realized that yeah, they would. The girl smiled triumphantly.

“You see?”

“It’s the only way to save them!” John insisted. “If we don’t turn them they die!”

“Do you have any proof? Have you ever seen that happen?”

“Dave failed at a mission, so he would know. He saw them die.”

“But you didn’t John.”

“So what?!”

“John, they’re lying to you.”

“No they’re not!” The girl stuffed a wad of cloth in John’s mouth.

“You’re living in an illusion John. But don’t worry. I promise I’ll free you.” _No!_ John willed his wind powers to activate. But instead an electric jolt shot out through the metal choker and he screamed. “That’s to keep you from using your magic. Don’t worry, I’ll take it off once the ritual is finished.” The girl stood up and began walking around the circle; chanting. John panicked and tugged at his bonds. _No! I don’t want to! Stop! Help! Help me!_

John felt something in him surge and it felt like he would burst. He screamed and suddenly wind burst out of him. It shattered the choker and the shackles. The candles went out and the girl was thrown against the wall. John gasped and sat up. He looked at the girl and approached her slowly.

“Did I hurt you? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Aaaah!” the girl screamed. “G-get away! S-s-stay back! Aaaah! Help me!” John heard some people coming and he gritted his teeth. He had to get out. He called up wind to carry him out. Two guys opened the door and John flew past them. Actually, it was more like he flew through them. John felt like his body was insubstantial. _Am I a ghost?_ Then John grinned. _I’m not a ghost. I turned into wind!_ He flew around and eventually found a ventilation system.

He flew through it, hoping he would find a way out. After awhile he heard some voices. They sounded kind of familiar. John flew in their direction and eventually he could see into another cell. He looked in and gasped.  _Aranea and Jake!_ He grinned to himself. _I’ve gotta get them out of there! Then we’ll get back to the Academy and it’ll be okay! I’ll just—wait, what are they doing?!_ John looked at them and froze.  _Are they kissing?! But Jake’s Dirk’s boyfriend! What the hell is going on?!_ John stared at them for a minute before he tore his gaze away.  _I should get them out but…why do I feel weird?_ Then John realized he was starting to turn back into himself. He panicked and flew down the ventilation system. Eventually he burst out into the sewers. He turned back into himself and landed in the muck.

“Gross!” he exclaimed. He got up and looked around him. _Okay, now I just have to get out of here alive._


	30. Chapter 30

Dave stared at his breakfast, unable to eat. John was still missing, and so were Jake and Aranea. Jade, Rose, Roxy, Dirk and Jane were just picking half-heartedly at their food and Vriska was talking to Meenah. Dave sighed and pushed his food away from him.  _Damn, John better be okay. If they captured him, that means they won’t kill him…right?_

“One of us will have to take over being the leader until John gets back,” Rose said. Dave and Jade stared at her in surprise.

“But…I don’t think any of us are really up to that,” Jade said. Rose sighed and nodded.

“Yes…that was my assumption too.”

“I’ll just take over for John then,” Karkat said. “It’ll be like when you guys first arrived.”

“Okay,” Jade said, smiling. “Thanks Karkat.” _There’s no way Karkat can replace John. Damn it! He’d better be alive! He better get back soon!_

JOHN’S POV:

John flew through the sewers, looking for a way out. It was like a maze and he had no idea if he was ever going the right direction. After awhile he decided to stop and take a break. He sat on the ground and sighed.  _I hope Dave’s okay. And Jade, Rose and Jane too. And Karkat and pretty much everyone. I hope no one got killed._ John bit his lip and stood up.  _I have to get back as quickly as possible._ He called wind to pick him up and flew down the corridor.

After awhile he could sense a presence up ahead. He quickly turned to wind and waited. Two people came around the corner; a man and a woman. They were walking quietly and glancing around nervously. John didn’t recognise them, but he could tell they were human.

“Where are you going?” the two people turned around. John looked and gasped. Aranea was standing behind them with her hands on her hips. “I don’t remember giving you two permission to leave.”

“Y-you’re just evil!” the woman spat. “You’ve gone against your own kind! We’re not allying ourselves to you, even if it means we can kill the Vampires!” Aranea sighed and put her hand to her forehead. The man and woman turned to run, then stopped.

“Come with me,” Aranea said. They turned around and followed Aranea deeper into the sewers. John stared at them until they disappeared from sight. _What just happened? What is Aranea doing?_ John didn’t want to believe it, but judging from what they said Aranea might have…betrayed them. John shivered and solidified. He kept flying down the corridor. _I have to let the others know!_

DAVE’S POV:

“I’m bored,” Jade complained. Dave reached over and scratched Bec behind his ears.

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “But it’s not like there’s much we can do about it.”

“Hi.” Dave turned and saw Feferi walk up to her group. “I’m back.”

“How’s everyone?” Karkat asked.

“Eridan’s wounds have healed. He’s just asleep right now. He’ll be back once he wakes up. Mituna hasn’t woken up yet. Everyone else is doing good though. They all just need to sleep.”

“That’s good,” Karkat said. “At least not too many people were injured.”

“And Jane brought back the few that died,” Feferi said, smiling at Jane.

“I still don’t know if I can do it more than once per person,” Jane said. “I really hope I won’t have to find out.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Roxy said. Dave chewed on his bottom lip and glanced around. Rose patted his shoulder and smiled.

“John will be fine. He’s strong,” she said. Dave sighed and nodded. But he was still worried. He looked around at everyone in the Entrance Hall. The Summoner was talking to some of his beasts out a window. Dolorosa was talking with Kanaya and Porrim. Sollux was off in the medical wing, visiting Mituna. Then the doors suddenly burst open and some guards ran in.

“Dolorosa!” they said. Dolorosa ran over to them and they stepped aside to reveal…John!

“John!” Dave exclaimed. He stood up to run over to him but Dolorosa held up her hand. Dave froze and watched her talk to John. She turned and pointed to Vriska, then motioned for her to follow her. She took them out of the room and the guards followed. Dave sat back down and sighed.

“Oh, thank goodness he’s okay,” Jade said. She was smiling and looked like she was going to cry. Dave nodded and patted her shoulder. _John’s okay! Thank god._

JOHN’S POV:

“Aranea WHAT?!” Vriska exclaimed.

“Um, well…they said she betrayed her own kind and that they didn’t want to ally themselves with her…” John stuttered. Vriska swore loudly and her mom sighed.

“And they tried to turn you into a human,” she said. John nodded.

“Thank you for telling us this John,” Dolorosa said. “You two should go back to your friends now. But please don’t explain that Aranea’s betrayed us.” John and Vriska nodded and walked down the hall. Vriska was silent and John just twiddled his thumbs.

“Sorry about Aranea,” he said. Vriska shrugged.

“I guess it’s kinda my fault. I always overshadowed her and ignored her.”

They walked into the Entrance Hall and John ran up to Dave. Dave pulled him into a hug and John hugged him back.

“Jesus John! Don’t scare us like that ever again!” Dave said. John laughed.

“I won’t. I promise.” He let go of Dave and gave Jane, then Jade a hug.

“John, did you see Jake?” Dirk asked. John froze. _Oh…right. Aranea…_

“Yeah, he’s okay,” John said.

“What happened to Aranea?” Meenah asked. John hesitated and looked at Vriska. Vriska sighed.

“She fucked up,” she said. Everyone seemed to understand what Vriska meant. They nodded silently and didn’t pester her about it. John thought for a moment.

“Hey Vriska?” he said.

“What?” Vriska asked.

“Can Aranea…mind-control people?”

“Yeah. Me and my mom can to. It’s a Power everyone in our family gets. Why?”

“Oh! Okay, now that makes sense.” John had been thinking about Aranea and Jake.

“John, what did she do?” Vriska asked. John hesitated. _Should I mention what she did while Dirk’s here?_

“Um…she and Jake were in the same cell-”

“What the hell did she do to him?!” Dirk asked.

“She made him kiss her, didn’t she?” Vriska said. John nodded and Vriska sighed. “I’m not surprised.” Dirk was muttering to himself and clenching his hands into fists.

“Calm down Dirk,” Dave said. “Seriously, just calm down. You’re boyfriend’ll be fine and we’ll get him back.” Dirk sighed and stood up.

“I’ll be right back,” he said. He walked out with one of the guards accompanying him. John and everyone else were silent for a minute.

“I’m kind of hungry,” John said. Dave handed him his breakfast, which he hadn’t touched.

“So how did you get out of there John?” Jade asked.

“Yeah, you probably have a really cool story!” Terezi said. John swallowed some food and shrugged.

“Well…they had this choker on me that would shock me whenever I tried to use my Power. But I guess my wind Power just snapped a bit and I blew it off. Oh and…this girl had me tied to the floor and tried to do some ritual to turn me back into a human.”

“Whoa, what?!” Karkat exclaimed. “Can they actually do that?!”

“They seem to think so,” John said. “Um, after that I turned into wind and I flew out of there through the vents. Um, that’s when I saw Jake and Aranea…anyway, then I kept going through the sewers until I found a way out. Then I flew back to the Academy.”

“Well done John,” Rose said. “You did a good job.” John shrugged and kept eating.

“As long as I’m alive and all you guys are alive, I don’t care how well I did.”

“Spoken like a true leader,” Karkat said. John grinned.

“Thanks Karkat!”


	31. Chapter 31

Aranea clenched her hands into fists and glared at the cell. The candles had been knocked against the wall and the choker and shackles were in pieces. Aranea turned and glared at the small girl, who shrank back from her.

“And you just let him escape?!” she snapped.

“H-h-he was t-too strong!” the girl whined. Aranea slapped her and she fell to the ground.

“No excuses!” Aranea turned to Jake and pointed at the girl. He picked her up and covered her mouth as she started to shout. Aranea walked past the guards, whom she controlled, and went to her private quarters. They actually belonged to the Vampire Hunters’ leader, but since he was busy locked up in the council room, she was taking up residence there for awhile. After all, he wasn’t pulling the strings anymore; she was.

Aranea had Jake tie up the girl and stuff a piece of cloth in her mouth. Then he locked her in a closet. Aranea sat down on a chair and sighed.  _This hasn’t been going how I’d hoped. And now that John’s escaped…I wonder if he found out I’ve betrayed them? Damn, this isn’t good. It’ll be harder to capture them all now._ Aranea sighed and waved Jake over. He sat next to her and kissed her. She smiled as he ran his hands through her hair.  _Well, at least I have Jake. That part of the plan worked perfectly._

DIRK’S POV:

Dirk splashed water on his face, not caring that his shades got wet. He punched the wall and let out a long sigh.  _I can’t believe this happened. I should have stayed with Jake during the fight! Damn it, this is all my fault!_ Dirk took a deep breath and stood up straight. He wiped the water off his shades, then his face and hair. He sighed and walked out of the bathroom.

At first Dirk was going to go back to the Entrance Hall, but then he changed his mind. He went to the medical wing. Dolorosa had announced earlier that patients were leaving the medical wing in a few hours and you could visit them if you wanted.

There were a few other students visiting their friends. Dirk glanced around to see if there was anyone he knew. He noticed Mituna was lying in one bed. He’d heard he was in a coma or something and the healers were all waiting for him to wake up. Dirk also noticed Damara was lying in one bed. He walked over to her and she looked surprised to see him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Of course, she spoke shitty Japanese, but Dirk understood her perfectly.

“I’m bored. Did you get injured in the fight?”

“Yes, but I’m fine now. How’s everyone else? I heard Aranea’s missing.” Dirk sighed and nodded.

“Yeah…ask Vriska about it I guess.” Damara nodded.

“I heard John came back. What about Jake?”

“…He’s still missing.” Damara seemed to get a thoughtful look.

“Has Aranea done something?” she asked. “Specifically, to Jake?” Dirk stared at her in surprise.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“I know she can mind-control, all the Serkets can. What’s happened?” Dirk sighed and sat down in a chair next to Damara’s bed.

“Well, I’m pretty sure she betrayed us.” Dirk whispered. Damara sighed and nodded.

“She’s mind-controlling Jake isn’t she?” Dirk nodded. “Don’t worry, I doubt he wants to be doing the things he’s doing.” Dirk shrugged and stared at the ground. “Don’t be so gloomy.”

“How?! My boyfriends being mind-controlled to cheat on me!” Dirk whispered loudly, but not loudly enough so that anyone else heard him. Damara sighed.

“Look, I know what it’s like to have a boyfriend who actually cheats on you, so stop it! You’re situation isn’t that bad.”

“What? Who did you date?”

“Rufioh.”

“Oh. Is that why you’re always kind of bitter?” Damara nodded.

“You try trusting someone after that.” Dirk chuckled quietly and nodded. They were both quiet for awhile. Eventually a healer came and told Damara she could leave the medical wing. So Dirk walked back with her. When they got to the Entrance Hall Damara sat down with her group. Dirk sat next to Dave and listened to him talk to John.

“John?” Dirk turned and saw Porrim standing next to John. “Mother wants to talk to you.” John nodded and stood up. He said bye to Dave and followed Porrim out of the Entrance Hall.

JOHN’S POV:

“We want you to go with a team to the Vampire Hunters’ lair,” Dolorosa said.

“What?” John exclaimed.

“You have already been there, and you can now turn into wind, so you shouldn’t get caught too easily.”

“But I can’t really do it for too long,” John said.

“If you keep using that Power, you should be able to do it for longer.” John nodded uncertainly. “So, will you go with the team?”

“………Okay.”

“If you think you should, you can take other members of your team, or another team.” John thought for a minute. “But I won’t let you take Dirk with you. We need to capture Aranea and bring her back alive.”

“Well…who’s in the team?”

“Aranea and Vriska’s mother Mindfang will be there.” Dolorosa pointed to a woman with long black hair like Vriska’s and wore a black robe with dark blue embroidering. “Then there will be a healer, though I haven’t yet chosen one.”

“That’s it?”

“A small group is best, to avoid being detected.” John nodded and thought for a minute.

“What about Roxy? She can turn invisible.” Dolorosa shook her head.

“That will work fine on the Vampire Hunters, but Aranea will be able to see her. And I believe she could serve as better help here.”

“Okay…I don’t think there’s anyone to add to the group then.” Dolorosa nodded.

“Alright, you will leave tomorrow at sunset.” John nodded. Dolorosa’s expression softened and she smiled. “You should get some sleep now John. You look exhausted.” John grinned and nodded. He went back to the Entrance Hall, where everyone else was still talking. Quite a few people were taking naps, including Jade, so everyone was talking quietly. John lay down in his sleeping bag and Dave patted his head. John smiled at him and closed his eyes.


	32. Chapter 32

“John, wake up.” John sighed quietly and blinked his eyes open. Dave was gently shaking his shoulder. John smiled to him and rubbed his eyes. He sat up and saw a Vampire he didn’t recognise in a pale brown robe.

“Hi John. I’m Alexa. I’m going with you to the Vampire Hunters’ lair. We’re leaving now,” she said. John nodded and stood up.

“Good luck,” Dave said, patting his shoulder. John smiled and nodded. All his friends wished him luck and he followed Alexa out of the Academy. Mindfang was waiting for them outside. She grinned when they approached her.

“Ready?” she asked. John nodded and tried to suppress the butterflies in his stomach. They took off in the direction of the next town. It was just barely dark enough to be outside and unseen. John called up wind to fly him there so he wouldn’t get too tired.

When they got close enough to the town to see it ahead, they slowed down. After all, they didn’t want to get caught. When they arrived at the town they stuck to the shadows and moved as quietly as possible. John had never felt so nervous before and would glance around to make sure no one was going to jump out at him.

“Where did you get out?” Mindfang whispered, gesturing to the streets around them. John turned into wind and flew above the rooftops. He looked around until he spotted the sewer grate behind an out of business butcher shop. He flew back down to Mindfang and the other girl and solidified.

“This way,” he whispered. He led them to the sewer grate. Then he flew through the holes in it to make sure there were no Vampire Hunters waiting for them. When he saw that the coast was clear he lifted the grate up and Mindfang and Alexa climbed in after him. They made their way down the sewers as quietly and inconspicuously as possible.

When they ran into two guards Mindfang used her Power and they didn’t attack them. John was relieved to have her with them.

“I’m only slightly controlling them,” she whispered. “I’m just making them not notice us. If I control them completely Aranea will notice.” John and Alexa nodded quietly and they kept going. John would check around corners for them and eventually Mindfang had probably almost all of the Vampire Hunters minorly under her control.

When they approached a set of double doors Mindfang had them stop. She frowned and seemed to be listening to something, though John couldn’t hear whatever it was. After a few seconds she nodded seriously.

“Aranea’s nearby,” she whispered. John and Alexa both tensed up. “Be ready.” John nodded and Mindfang opened the door. It led to a hallway. They walked quietly and John fingered his hammer. He took deep breaths to calm himself down. Eventually they came to another door and John turned into wind. He flew through the crack and looked at the room he was in. It was fancier than the other rooms and seemed to be the private chambers for the Vampire Hunters’ leader. But someone else was occupying them.

Aranea was sitting on a velvet couch. Jake was sitting next to her and kissing her. He was caressing her neck with his hands and there was blood running down Aranea’s chin. John stared at them for a moment. Then he felt himself start to turn solid and quickly flew out to Mindfang and Alexa.

“She’s in there,” he whispered. “She’s um…still mind-controlling Jake.” Mindfang nodded.

“I’ll bust down the door. John: keep Jake away from her.” John nodded. “Alexa: check to see if Jake’s injured, and if he is, heal him.” Alexa nodded. Mindfang walked up to the door and kicked it down. Aranea jumped up in surprise and John turned to wind and flew at Jake, pinning him against the wall. _Sorry Jake_ he thought to himself.

“M-mother?!” Aranea exclaimed. Mindfang glared at her.

“Time to come home Aranea.” She leapt at her and Aranea dodged. She pulled out her sword and John watched them fight. Mindfang was clearly stronger than Aranea and had the advantage. Aranea looked to Jake but John held him tight against the wall. Alexa walked up and inspected the choker on Jake’s neck.

“Hmm…I’m not sure how to get it off him,” she said. “Maybe he can get it off with his hope Power when he’s no longer being mind-controlled.”

“Yeah,” John said. He looked back to Mindfang and Aranea in time to see Mindfang knock Aranea’s sword out of her hand. Aranea glared at her and took a deep breath, then looked confused.

“Sorry, but the Vampire Hunters won’t come to help you,” Mindfang said. “They’re under my control now.” Aranea’s eyes went wide and she ran to the door. Mindfang threw her sword and it caught Aranea’s sleeve, pinning her against the wall. Aranea tugged at it and looked at her mother with wide eyes.

“P-please…please, let me go. I promise I won’t bother you again. I’ll disappear, I’ll-”

“No,” Mindfang said, her voice like steel. She struck Aranea over the head and she fell unconscious. John let Jake go and he stumbled and fell to the ground. John solidified and helped Alexa pick him up. Jake frowned and looked around him.

“…What happened?” he asked. “What-” Jake’s eyes went wide and he gasped. “Did I just-?! Did Aranea-?! Did she make me-?!”

“She was mind-controlling you,” Mindfang said, walking over. She had Aranea slung over her shoulder. “You couldn’t have resisted her command.” Jake hung his head in his hands. “Don’t feel ashamed. Anyone else in your position would have been powerless as well.”

“…Does Dirk know?”

“He’s not mad at you,” John said. “He’s just really angry with Aranea, that’s all.” Jake sighed and nodded. He felt the choker on his neck and frowned.

“What about this thing? How do I get it off?”

“We’ll worry about that when we get back to the Academy,” Alexa said. “Come on, let’s go.” John and Alexa helped Jake stand up.

“Oh, wait a minute,” he said. He walked over to a closet and opened it. John gasped when he saw who was inside it. It was the girl who had tried to turn him into a human. She was tied up with a cloth stuffed in her mouth. Jake untied her and helped her up. She tried to jerk out of his grip but she was shaking so much she fell again.

“It’s okay,” Alexa said. “We’re not going to hurt you.” The girl just looked at her with a look of terror.

“Will she be okay?” John asked. Mindfang nodded.

“Yeah, the rest of the Vampire Hunters will take care of her.”

“No they wont,” the girl said.

“What?” John asked.

“I-I’m an orphan. And I failed, so they don’t care about me. I’m not supposed to fail.”

“But you’re just a kid!” John exclaimed. “They can’t just abandon you!”

“But they will.” John looked at Mindfang desperately. She sighed and shook her head.

“John, we can’t bring her with us.” The girl’s eyes went wide.

“But-”

“No buts John. She’s a human.”

“But-”

“John!”

“I-I-I-I’ll come.” John stopped at looked at the girl.

“What?!” Mindfang exclaimed.

“Um…well, I don’t really know if you guys are evil or not and um…I’m not sure if I believe you aren’t but it’s like…um…I don’t want to be with the Vampire Hunters anymore and…” Mindfang sighed.

“Fine. You can come with us. Alexa, will you carry her?” Alexa nodded and picked her up. “Okay, let’s go.”


	33. Chapter 33

John and the others entered the Academy as quietly as possible. Some guards stood around Dirk to keep him from attacking Aranea. Jake tried to walk over to him but Mindfang pulled him along with them out of the Entrance Hall.

“Can’t I see him?” Jake asked.

“Once we get that choker off you,” Mindfang replied. They went to Dolorosa’s office, where she was waiting for them. She looked surprised when she saw the little girl, but she smiled and welcomed her.

“What time was it when she arrived?” she asked.

“Four o’clock,” Mindfang answered. Dolorosa nodded. John had to stifle a yawn from how tired he was. Most of the Vampires would be going to sleep soon.

“Put Aranea in a cell for now and guard her for me,” Dolorosa said. Mindfang nodded and left the room. Dolorosa reached over and touched the choker around Jake’s neck. “So this is the choker you described John?” John nodded. “Interesting…” She ran her fingers along it and tapped it with her nails. She straightened and nodded to herself. “John, can you manipulate some wind to go underneath the choker and break it off?”

“Um, I’ll try.” John sent some wind over to the choker. But once it came in contact with the choker it bounced back. “Uh, the choker’s repelling it or something.”

“I see.” Dolorosa tapped her chin and thought for a minute. “Alexa, will you go get Equius for me please?” Alexa nodded and walked out of the room.

“Why Equius?” John asked.

“I want him to break the choker off,” Dolorosa answered. Jake looked a bit nervous and she tried to calm him down. _I hope this works._

Equius came in a few minutes later. Dolorosa explained about the choker and how she wanted him to get it off of Jake.

“Just don’t injure him, alright?” Equius nodded and carefully grabbed the choker. He frowned in concentration as he pulled at it. John could see cracks forming in it and Equius pulled harder. After almost a minute he snapped the choker in half. Jake sighed with relief and rubbed his neck.

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” Equius said. Dolorosa took the pieces of the choker and put them on her desk.

“Can I go see Dirk now?” Jake asked. Dolorosa smiled and nodded.

“Yes, you can all return to your friends.” John and Jake ran to the Entrance Hall. They got there and John flew over to Dave, who hugged him.

“Great job John,” he said. John grinned and hugged him back.

“Thanks Dave.” John sat down next to Dave and looked around him. Jake was talking to Dirk off in a corner of the room and seemed to be apologizing. Vriska came over and sat next to John.

“Where is she?” she asked. John hesitated before answering. _Well, Dolorosa didn’t say we can’t tell anyone._

“She’s in a cell here. Your mom’s guarding her.” Vriska nodded.

“She didn’t give you too much trouble did she?” John shook his head.

“It was fine.” Vriska nodded and stood up. She walked over to Jake and Dirk, probably to apologize about Aranea. Jade reached over and hugged John. Jane and the others joined in and John grinned. “Sorry if I worried you all.”

“You’ve got to stop doing missions without us,” Jade said, smiling. “How are we supposed to look out for you?”

“Okay, I know. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Rose said. “At least you’re back and you’re safe.”

“Yeah.”

ARANEA’S POV:

Aranea groaned and sat up, clutching her pounding head. She clenched her teeth and looked around her. She was in a dark cell with no window. The figure of a person was barely visible on the other side of the bars. Aranea sent her Power over to them and hit a stone wall.  _Huh?_ The person turned to face her and Aranea saw her face.

“Mother?!” she exclaimed. Mindfang nodded. She had a disappointed look in her eyes.

“Why did you do that Aranea?” she asked. Aranea glared at her.

“Shut up! It’s your fault! All of you! You just ignored me! You never appreciated me! It was always Vriska! I’m just as good as her! I’m _better_ than her! I-” Aranea stopped when Mindfang reached her arms through the bars and hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.” Aranea felt tears prickle her eyes and tried to blink them away. But she failed and broke down. She wrapped her arms around her mom and sobbed into her shoulder. Mindfang rubbed her head and whispered apologies to her.

“What’s going to happen to me?” Aranea asked.

“I don’t know,” Mindfang answered.

VRISKA’S POV:

“What’s going to happen to Aranea?” Vriska asked. Dolorosa looked down at her with sympathetic eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” she said. “I’ll probably talk to your mother about it.”

“Talk to me about it,” Vriska said. “She’s my sister. I want to know what you’re going to do to her.” Dolorosa sighed and nodded.

“She committed treason, betraying us to the enemy.” She sat down at her desk and clasped her hands in front of her. “She tried to kill us off and have John turned back into a human. If she had succeeded in that, she might have done that to all the Vampires who were turned and killed off the rest.” Vriska bit her tongue and nodded. Dolorosa took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Unfortunately, I see no other choice but to execute her.” Vriska nodded quickly.

“Fine,” she said, standing up. “I knew you would say that.” She turned to leave.

“Vriska?” Dolorosa called. Vriska stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “I’m very sorry.” Vriska opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. A guard followed her as she turned a corner and went to the bathroom. She leaned over the sink and banged her head on the mirror. She gritted her teeth together and clenched her hands into fists.

“Vriska?” Vriska looked up at the mirror and saw Terezi standing behind her. She yelled and slammed her head against the mirror, shattering it. She blinked as trickles of blood ran down her face. Terezi turned her around and hugged her. Vriska hugged her back, blinking to prevent the blood from getting into her eyes and to prevent tears from forming.

“I’m sorry Vriska,” Terezi said. Vriska nodded.

“It’s so unfair.” Terezi stroked her hair.

“Yeah, it is.”


	34. Chapter 34

John sat with his friends in the Entrance Hall. He was petting Bec and listening to a funny story Jade was telling. It was the night after he’d gone and got Aranea from the Vampire Hunters’s lair. The little white-haired girl was curled up against John and had her arms wrapped around his left arm. She hadn’t left his side since Dolorosa had made John turn her. It was something John hoped he wouldn’t have to go through again too soon.

The doors opened suddenly and the Summoner walked in. He walked up to Sollux.

“Mituna’s awake,” he said. Sollux jumped up and ran out of the room. Latula went after him and the Summoner let her go. He sat with Tavros and Rufioh and spoke with them. John glanced at the door Sollux and Latula had gone through. _I hope Mituna’s okay._

SOLLUX’S POV:

Sollux stood next to Mituna with his dad and Latula. He was sitting up in bed. His eyes had a bit of a distant look in them and he kept blinking. Sollux didn’t care though. He was just glad he was okay. He hugged Mituna and felt Latula and his dad do the same. Mituna hugged them back and when Sollux looked up he saw Mituna was smiling.

“How do feel Mituna?” a healer asked. Sollux, his dad and Latula let go of him and sat down. Mituna shrugged and frowned.

“Tir…tar…tired,” he said. The healer frowned.

“Could you please say a complete sentence for me?” she asked. Mituna’s frown deepened. “Or you could say your name.”

“Mu…Mit…Mithu…no, Mitruna? Fuck, um…Milu…shit. Mitu…na. Mi…tu…na. Cal…Cath…Cap…Captain? Fuck. Um, Cap…tor. Captor. Mitu...na Cap…tor.” Sollux frowned, worried.

“Mituna, are you okay?” he asked.

“Head…hurtth,” Mituna said. The healer called someone over and got them to examine Mituna. The lady ran her hands through his hair and hummed softly. Mituna just stared blankly ahead as she did that. When she finished she picked up an empty bottle and held it in front of Mituna.

“Could you please try to use your psiionics to lift this off the palm of my hand?” she said. Mituna frowned at it. Sollux held his breath and waited, but nothing happened. Mituna hung his head and shook it.

“No,” he said. The lady nodded and put the bottle down. She sighed and straightened up.

“What’th wrong with him?” Sollux’s dad asked.

“He has brain damage,” the lady said. Sollux gasped and Latula swore loudly. “His psiionics seem to be blocked because of it. He might have a hard time adapting, but he should be fine. But he won’t be able to go on anymore missions.” Sollux’s dad nodded and patted Mituna’s shoulder. Latula hugged him and whispered to him. Sollux just held his hand. _Why did all thith have to happen?!_

ARANEA’S POV:

Aranea sat slumped against the wall of her cell. Her mother stood quietly on the other side of the bars. Neither of them said a word to each other. Aranea found the silence both deafening and a comfort. As long as it was silent, she didn’t have to know time passed. She could pretend time had frozen and nothing would happen to her.  _Why was I such an idiot? Why did I have to do that? I wish I could time-travel like Dave. That would be so much easier._

Aranea’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. She stood up and her mother turned to see who it was. Vriska walked over to them with a blank expression on her face.

“Dolorosa says to take you to the forest’s edge,” she said. Aranea sucked in a breath and clenched her hands into fists. Blinking back tears, she nodded and squared her shoulders.

“Alright,” she said. Mindfang unlocked the cell and Aranea stepped out. She gave Vriska an apologetic look, which Vriska returned with a nod. Aranea could see that her younger sister was holding back tears as well. “I’m sorry Vriska.” Vriska nodded to her.

“Yeah,” she said. “I know.”


	35. Chapter 35

Everyone gathered in front of the forest behind the school. John and his friends were standing in the front row, as were Roxy’s group, Karkat’s group and Mheena’s group. Aranea was led up to a tree by Mindfang. Equius and Horrus’s dad was waiting for her. He chained her hands above her head to the tree. Aranea looked out at everyone and John saw her gaze rest on Jake and Dirk for a second. Dolorosa stepped up and addressed the crowd.

“On this night, I persecute Aranea Serket of treason,” she said. “She betrayed us and attempted to have us all killed. Her crimes are punishable by death.” Lots of Vampires yelled cheers or they yelled insults at Aranea. John could tell she was doing her best to put on a brave front and not cry.

“This is so wrong,” John whispered as Dolorosa continued her speech. Dave nodded and held his hand. _And I helped capture her. I helped this happen._

“Don’t blame yourself John,” Vriska whispered. She was biting her lip to keep from crying and blood was running down her chin. John reached over and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against his shoulder. The little girl stood next to John, her arms wrapped around his and Dave’s hands.

“You don’t have to watch,” John whispered to her.

“I’ll be okay,” she said. John nodded and looked back up at Aranea. Dolorosa was standing next to her.

“Aranea, is there anything you want to say?” she asked. Aranea took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wish I could change what I’ve done. But even if I could time-travel, I could never convince the past-me to rethink her actions. That’s just the kind of person I am. And I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused. And I hope this never happens again.” She blinked a few times and squared her shoulders. “That’s all.”

Dolorosa nodded and walked away from her. She stood next to Porrim and Kanaya. “Proceed, Executioner.” Equius and Horrus’s dad nodded and stepped forward. He held a bow in his hands and a single arrow. Aranea stared him in the eyes and John watched him raise the bow and draw back the string. He wanted to look away but he made himself watch. He squeezed Vriska’s shoulder as the arrow shot forward. It struck Aranea in her abdomen and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Then she was still.

Vriska sobbed and John pulled her into a hug. The little girl buried her face in his leg and whimpered. Meenah patted Vriska’s shoulder and apologized. Other members of Vriska’s team told her how sorry they were. She just ignored them and kept crying.

John stayed with her when they went back inside. They went to her dorm and sat on the couch. Terezi sat with them and they both held Vriska as she cried. John couldn’t get rid of the horrible taste the execution had left in his mouth.

Mindfang joined them awhile later. John had sent the little girl off to bed and he was feeling tired himself. But he stayed up with Vriska, Mindfang and Terezi as long as he could. Eventually they all fell asleep.

John was woken up the next night by Dave shaking his shoulder. Vriska, Mindfang and Terezi were still asleep. John got up and quietly followed Dave out of the room and back to their dorm. Jade and Rose were waiting for him. They each gave him a hug.

“Are you coming with us to breakfast?” Rose asked a few minutes later. John shook his head.

“I’ll bring you back something,” Dave said. John smiled and nodded.

“Thanks Dave.”

ROSE’S POV:

Meenah, Vriska and Terezi were absent during breakfast. No one was really talking and any whispered conversations died down quickly. There was a dark mood over everyone. Dolorosa announced it was a day off and everyone could relax and that the Vampire Hunters had been dealt with. Rose didn’t really listen to the details. She held Kanaya’s hand and picked at the food on her plate.

“You should eat Rose,” Kanaya said. Rose nodded and nibbled at her food. Kanaya smiled and squeezed her hand. No one really had much of an appetite. Rose could only hope that Aranea’s friends and family would recover.

JOHN’S POV:

Dave returned with some chicken wings for John. Jade and Rose were with him and mentioned Vriska, Meenah and Terezi hadn’t been at breakfast.

“And the Vampire Hunters have all been killed,” Jade said.

“What? When?” John asked.

“Dolorosa said Mindfang went and dealt with them after the execution. We’re safe now.” John felt his stomach churn and nodded. He nibbled at his chicken and sighed.

“It’s just so…wrong.” His friends nodded. He slumped against the couch and stared at the ceiling.

“It’s a night off, so we don’t have to do anything,” Jade said.

“Good,” John said.

“Do you want to be left alone?” Rose asked. John nodded. His friends each gave him a hug. “I’m going to visit Kanaya.”

“I’ll go with you to see Karkat,” Jade said.

“I’ll go see how Dirk is,” Dave said. John smiled and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Come get us if you need something,” Rose said.

“I will.” His friends nodded and left the room. John sighed and covered his eyes with his arm. _Maybe it really would have been better if we hadn’t moved to this town and been turned._

 

Miles away, in the sewers, the bodies of the Vampire Hunters lay across the floor. Some of them were submerged in the waste running by and others were piled on top of other dead bodies. None of them stirred. Then one of the groaned and sat up.

“Damn! That’s three times I’ve died now!” He coughed up some blood and scowled. “I _hate_ Vampires! They have no gratitude! Calling what I did to the town a _curse!_ ” He spat out some blood and stood up. He looked at the bodies around him and sighed. He turned and walked away, grumbling to himself. “Great, now I have to start all over again…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering who that was at the end, it was Caliborn. And just so you know there is NO SEQUEL!
> 
> Sorry. :P
> 
> Thanks for reading this to the end! :) Hope you all liked it.


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